Fake Left, Break Right
by Socially Suicidal
Summary: Raven is forced to work undercover as a normal, athletic teen in order to bust a criminal. A certain Titan bird is forced to acknowledge that she could possibly not be around forever, but he would never allow that. Come Hell, high water, or maybe even Red-X. -Revised-
1. 1: Confusion and Basketball

_Short Note_: Hey everyone! Here's the revised version of Chapter 1. It's not much different except for a few details I messed up the first time around, but the quality of writing is definitely increased, so now would be a good time to reread the story if you're interested!

**Edited: **9/9/12_**  
**_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter One: **Confusion and Basketball?

The empath stood directly in the Boy Wonder's face. "No," she said softly, trying to keep her homicidal emotions intact. But he thought she sounded more dangerous, edgy, and he was weary of the grip she had over the murderous intent rolling off of her.

"Raven, please, they're counting on us to find this bastard! The _only_ way we can do that is if you spot him at one of the games!" Robin insisted but he led himself right into one of her scowls.

Robin was risking his life and manhood imploring Raven to participate in a high school basketball clinic in order to catch a criminal that was thought to have some interest in the sport. He thought his request was simple enough- for her to learn the sport and become skilled enough in it so that she could partake in some games that the suspect might attend.

"Why can't Starfire do it, she is much more fit then I. I don't even know how to play! **And** even if I did know how, I wouldn't even stand a chance, _look_at me for Azar's sakes!" she retorted impatiently. He gave her a once over from behind his white mask, became distracted by some very male thoughts, and immediately shook them off. _'She's right, but you don't have to be tall, or big to play basketball. There are different positions to fit all players, right?'_ he thought.

"Star can't go it because she would ask too many questions and she is not good at acting like a normal person, we cannot risk her shooting green beams out of her eyes over the smallest of disagreements. You are _much_ better at controlling that sort of thing." He finished and looked into the pair of amethyst eyes looking up at him. Inwardly, the murderous intent shooting out of those same eyes made him doubt his own statement instantly, but he decided it was in his best interest not to voice such thoughts.

Raven was now even more frustrated, he _was_right after all, damn him the Boy Blunder for being right! She sighed, she _really_ didn't want to do this, _really_ didn't want to, but to her dismay his logic had won over her stubborn anger. Narrowing her eyes, she leaned closer to him, close enough for his discomfort to be almost visible and the perfect proximity to scare him straight out of his fluorescent green tights.

"Fine, I'll do the stupid basketball thing, but when this is over…" She paused and brought her lips up at his ears, she let him feel her warm breath and then she continued in the lowest, most sadistic tone her throaty voice could muster "…it is in your best interest to be expecting worse than hell." She slowly moved away from his face, glared at him pointedly in his mask clothed eyes, turned around and slipped into her room. Robin stood there, still tingling from the feeling of her warm breath that now caressed his thoughts. He shook it off, knowing that if he thought about it too much; he would feel too strange to take her to the basketball clinic that would start for the day in about fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, in the comfort and privacy of her dark room, Raven was smirking as she recalled the expression on her leader's face as she left him standing there, speechless. That was her kind of comedy, albeit dry and downright sadistic sometimes. She walked over to one of her draws and yanked out some blue basketball shorts that she was dismayed to know would be far too big on her, and a white spaghetti strapped shirt that hugged her small body. Raven pulled her hair up in a ponytail that due to her hair's short length hung only at medium height from the back of her head. Two purple strands of her 'bangs' fell on either side of her face.

Pressing her index finger to the chakra she wore proudly on her forehead, the resident sorceress closed her amethyst eyes and murmured some complicated spell words. Some dark energy surrounded the purple gem and it disappeared from her pale skin and the purple color of her hair bled black. To further disguise herself from unwanted attention, Raven pulled some deep blue contacts from out of a drawer and carefully placed them in each of her eyes. Blinking, she observed her change in appearance dully and rubbed her newly vacated forehead. The disguise would take a lot of focus to keep up for extended periods of time, and she was mildly miffed at all of the energy should would have to put forth into this mission.

Robin knocked on her door and with his voice reluctant he called out to her through the metal, "H-Hey Raven, a-are you ready to go?" The empath quickly slipped on some sneakers (she was inclined to believe Cyborg had gotten her them a while ago) and hurried to the door, keen on continuing the verbal onslaught she had targeted at the Boy Wonder. _'This should be comical.'_ She told herself as the door swooshed open.

Robin almost felt his expression unhinge but, with years of practice (and the convenience of wearing a mask partially covering his face), was able to maintain his façade before the slip could be registered. Raven observed his change as well; he had sun glasses on, a red shirt that arrogantly displayed his muscled arms and chest, and some black pants. Raven was impressed that he didn't look like he should be hanging on a wire directing traffic, but kept her sentiments to herself in interest of keeping his ever inflating head from floating off somewhere. She waited for him to speak, but the moment never came.

"Maybe we should go now," Raven said trying to get past the wall he had made by just staring at her. His face suddenly leveled with Raven's, like had had just been woken up from some sort of trance or very distracting train of thought.

"Y-yeah let's go," Robin stuttered momentarily, still engrossed by the change he saw on her. She looked… so, well, in a word, _different._ It would be nearly criminal to say she looked normal, because there was no way the scowl and narrow of her dark eyes could be considered normal.

They made their way into the garage with Robin still staring at her. The agitated empath could no longer retain the urge to snap at him, "What the hell are you staring at bird boy?" she hissed, words dripping with anger.

His covered eyes shot up at her face, which gleamed with annoyance. "Nothing," he said quickly and turned his head to the wall in the opposite direction. They finally arrived at the garage after what seemed to Robin to be decades.

"This isn't your bike?" Raven said pointing to a motorcycle that looked just like a normal one, sporting no obnoxious colors or his usual emblem.

He nodded, "Cyborg made this about a month ago; his baby was perfect and didn't need to be tuned up or anything, so he made this out of boredom."

"Funny, you would think he made it out of motorcycle parts," Raven said with a smirk still admiring Cyborg's fine work.

"Ha-Ha," the leader bit out a fake laugh, "there goes that keen wit of yours," The uncharacteristic sarcasm that dripped from his words widened the disguised empath's smirk.

"It just cannot be stopped," she replied, holding onto him before he revved the engine and sped away.

He pulled up at the local Recreational Center with a newly renewed teasing aura about him. The slight girl slid out from behind him and began walking toward the front doors wordlessly, face set in a grim sort of resignation.

"Bye sunshine!" Robin called, she turned around and he blew a very sarcastic kiss at her. "I'll miss you Rae!"

"It won't be long until I'm back, kicking the ever loving arrogant shit out of you!" Raven replied in the same sarcastic, sing-song voice as Robin, even going as far as to copy the stupid grin adorning his face that made her want to slap him across the room.

Robin smirked at the threat, glad she had taken the bait, and sped off. _'What a jackass, and an idiotic jackass at that...'_ the disguised Titan thought as she entered the center. The thought that the sentiment was probably mutual comforted her enough for her to discard the thought and focus on her mission.

* * *

_'Wow, Rae, she's such a… well, guess I don't really know,'_ He mused and then imagined what Raven would say if she heard that_: 'Wow, the Boy __Blunder admitted that he didn't know, this will go down in history.'_ The leader could not help but grin at the thought as he parked his motorcycle in the garage and continued into the Tower.

* * *

Entering the gym, she caught sight of the woman that appeared to be the coach speaking with her assistant. _'Oh, shit,'_ Raven thought, tossing her small bag on the benches and hurrying over to the group.

"…Sorry…" Raven mouthed as she approached them. The assistant coach appeared to be a few short years older than the high school girls dressed in sports attire sitting around him. He had deep black hair, like Robin's, only it wasn't spiked up with copious amounts of glue-like gel, it came to his eyes but it was pushed out of the way, allowing him to see. He had green forest eyes surrounded by dark lashes and was wearing black loose fitting shorts with a grey work out shirt. The assistant was a quite a few inches above Robin's height, much taller than her, and his aura reminded her of her leader as well. Eying her, he whispered something into the head coach's ear and the older blonde nodded with a smile. Making his way over to the undercover Titan, he jerked his head in the direction of the benches and she complied with his silent request.

She observed him as he jogged over to meet her by benches and when he reached her, he immediately extended his hand, which Raven reached out for with her much smaller, pale hand and promptly shook, "Hi, I'm Jay, and you are?"

"Hi," she considered him; damn why did he remind her _so _much of her leader? "…Raven."

Suddenly smirking, he jerked his head to the side and asked very casually, "You new?"

Narrowing artificially colored eyes, she measured him momentarily before responding in an even, indifferent tone that she hoped was not a give-away to her identity. "Apparently, how did you figure?" She found herself relatively but not terribly interested in the answer.

"Good guess," He smiled his easy smile that reached his deep green eyes and caused a dimple to appear on his left cheek.

"Hey Jet, you comin'?" One of the girls called him, eyeing Raven as she spoke, "We're playing knockout*!"

Shaking his head, he motioned toward Raven (who was still trying to figure out what this "knockout" idiocy was) as he replied to the disappointed looking teenage girl, "Sorry, new girl!"

The disguised empath willed her face to take an expression of amusement. "And how do you suggest I'm supposed to take that?" she asked with a small, forced smile that she hoped looked normal.

Jay laughed, "I only meant I have to teach you how to play." He grabbed a basketball and motioned his hand out to the court. "Shall we?" he asked with a smirk.

* * *

_Switch to First Person Perspective: __**Raven**_

'_Holy Azar, even the same damned smirk as Bird Brain.'_ My awed thoughts caused me to hesitate, which did not escape the notice of my new, unsolicited friend.

"What's wrong?" he asked me, and I forced myself not to compare it to the way my leader probably would. I shook my head which somehow warranted a stern look from this stranger that was so interested in my hesitation.

I inhaled deeply and fabricated a response, "You just remind me _a lot_ of my… friend." I said hesitating on what to call him, that cocky jerk I live with that made me come here? Not exactly my best vocalization, but better than some choice words I could think of to describe my leader.

"Oh, is that a bad thing?" Jay asked, seemingly truly intrigued by my observation which fed my growing ire for this entire situation.

"Not particularly," I said slowly, cocking an eyebrow at him and crossing my arms over my chest uncomfortably. He nodded wordlessly, turning fluidly and walking onto the court. I took this as my silent cue to follow him and was grateful for his sudden silence.

"Let's start on some basics: dribbling." I nodded mutely, deciding not to vocalize my ignorance. Perhaps it would have been in my best interest to have Cyborg show me a few things before I showed up here, blind, but it was my dim-witted leader's fault that I hadn't been given the opportunity to.

The dexterity Jay moved with as he showed me how to perform a few basic moves with the ball impressed and discouraged me. How in the name of Azar was I supposed to do _that_?

As it turned out, I had underestimated both his ability to teach and my ability to learn. I was able to pick up on the skill rather quickly. Jay commented that with my size and coordination, I would make a decent guard*. Whatever the hell _that_ is.

Next, he told me, he would teach me the proper form for shooting. He demonstrated for me the proper posture but again, I found myself unusually dumbfounded and ignorant and considered that perhaps this was how Beastboy felt a majority of the time. I felt newly renewed sympathy for the comedian changeling.

Laughing, he shook his head at me and handed me the ball.

Standing behind me, he positioned my arms to where they should be, nudged my feet to the proper position, and pulled my upper body to the correct posture by holding my arms with his. The strange contact was uncomfortable for me, but I took comfort in the knowledge that it would be over soon enough.

After showing me how to pass, much like when he showed me how to shoot by holding by arms and showing me the motion, he showed me what exactly _sprinting_ was. I could easily describe this in two words: _not fun_. Or perhaps in one simple word: _death._ The ridiculous exercise of stamina or agility had me running back and forth from lines on the court more times than I wish to mention.

The coach blew the whistle that signaled it was lunch time after lifetimes of torturous physical excursion. I sat happily alone; up on the stage where the lunch tables were, very much enjoying my meditative solitude and slowly eating my lunch. My table was small and located in the back corner of the stage, near a window that cast midday shadows against some dusty props.

However, it did not seem to be a day that the deities looked kindly upon me and my wall of comfortable seclusion was broken as quickly as it had been constructed.

Jay approached me and placed his lunch on the table next to me, which I eyed like it was an explosive device. "Why are you sitting here alone, Raven?" I shifted my gaze up at his inquisitive, unguarded face.

"I'm not sure. It's… comfortable," I answered honestly, having never really considered but having always simply accepted the fact.

A small smile caused the dimple on his cheek to make another appearance. "Well, don't get used to it here bec-" he began, but was interrupted by a loud girl with a high blonde ponytail and chocolate brown eyes bounding up to him and latching onto his sleeve.

"Jet, please come sit with us," she whined and glanced down at me threw her long lashes disdainfully. I raised a pale hand in a silent greeting, which she promptly ignored in favor of staring up at the dark haired male pathetically.

"I'm sorry Britt, but I told my new friend I would sit with her," Jay replied and looked down at me with kind viridian eyes. I narrowed my artificially blue eyes right back up at him in response to his lie, but decided not to directly call him out on it.

"It's perfectly alright for you to sit with your friend, I _really_ don't mind." I told him, eyeing the scowling girl pointedly and adding obvious inflection into my words, leaving them to drip with clear connotation.

"Rae," '_he's fucking joking calling me that_, _this guy has a death wish,'_ "I'm going to sit with you because I **want** to," he replied sternly, leaving no more room for argument as he sat down next to me. The girl made a rude sound and stomped off in another direction, leaving me alone with the enigmatically friendly older male.

'_Fantastic. Another cocky moron calling me that,' _I considered if I should correct him and tell him my name was in fact not _Rae,_ but _Raven_, and I would be damned if I was not addressed as such.

I opted for vocalizing a question that was nagging and tugging at my attention instead.

"Why do they call you _Jet_ instead of _Jay_?" I attempted to ask with casualty while taking a short sip of water, eyeing him across my shoulder and studying his suddenly mirthful expression.

The taller male leaned toward me, close enough so I could hear his barely audible murmur into my ear, "Because they don't know my real name. Jet is my nickname."

"Really," I inquired rhetorically, considering the new knowledge. _'Odd, he just met me and he told me his real name. Yet he has probably been acquainted with these girls for a time and has chosen not to reveal it.'_

As I reflected as to _why_ he would have preferred to keep that bit of information to himself, I recalled the loud, screeching voices and pathetic expressions of my fellow "teammates" and quickly found a very plausible reason.

He had taken to contently eating his lunch when I startled him with my next question, "Why 'Jet' anyway?"

After taking a long gulp from his water bottle, he turned to me with a wide, proud grin that immediately made me regret my conversational inquiry, "Because," Jay began, arrogance seeping from his words, "they say I move as fast as the Lockheed Blackbird jet."

I rolled my eyes and nearly choked on the egocentric aura rolling in waves off of him. "Of course, why didn't I think of that," I replied dryly, which caused his grin to impossibly widen.

"Who's that?" he asked suddenly, pointing across my body to to a figure in the shadows of the curtains that appeared to me motioning me to come over to it.

"Who's who…" I looked over and also noticed the figure. I cocked an eyebrow and wondered who it could possibly be. My first instinct had me thinking along the lines of Slade, but I quickly shook the irrational notion away and swallowed the twinge of fear that came along with it. I decided to cease being ridiculous and rose to meet the person.

Catching my wrist before I could walk away, Jay stood as with me. I turned to him and he stared down to me with imploring, worried green eyes.

"Please be careful," he muttered, eyeing the figure with a sense of contempt I had no time to investigate.

"Yeah, don't worry," I dismissed and he let go of my wrist and sat back down accordingly. I approached the figure, reaching out and probing with my empathic senses. I opened my mouth to give a rude inquiry with some very choice words as to who they were and why they were there, but snapped it shut in shock as they picked me up and swung me around behind the curtains. I saw Jay stand up again over the shoulder of the person in front of me, staring with narrowed eyes and lips in a thin, tight line.

The figure leaned into me and said in an unbearably arrogant and familiar voice, "Hey sunshine."

_**Go forth and Review.**_

_*_**Knockout:**_ A somewhat adolescent shooting competition played with two basketballs. Lining up at the free throw line, the players shoot and try to make it in before the person behind them can. If the person behind them makes it before them, they are knocked out. If they make it before the person behind them, they go to the end of the line and the game continues like this until only one person is left._

***Guard:** _The position that is normally played by the smallest players on the court, the guard and point guard are usually the quickest and most skilled with handling the ball. They dictate the offense and control the tempo of the game._


	2. 2: Sunshine

_Short Note: _Here's Chapter 2, revised! You'll notice I changed a few things (now Raven calls Robin Richard instead, since she is undercover after all) and I hope it still makes sense to you. Enjoy!

**Edited: **9/9/12

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer: **I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Two:** Sunshine

_The figure leaned into me and said in an unbearably arrogant and familiar voice, "Hey sunshine."_

I gasped, disbelief crawling its way into my voice and expression, "Robin?"

He grinned in response.

"Good, you're catching on. You've always been a quick one, Sunshine." I couldn't fathom how he formed words with that agitating smirk spread across his lips.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing here so early?" I hissed, but digressed and shook my head, "More importantly; you scared the _shit_ out of me**!"**Glaring up at him, I fought to ignore the growing urge to launch him across the city.

The insufferable prick had the gall to chuckle, "Can't I come down just to see how my little sunshine is doing?" I felt my eye twitch instinctively, the arrogance rolling off of him threatening to drown me. Grinding my teeth, my hands tightened into fists and I could no longer contain the urge to hit him. I swung my tightly clenched fist up toward his jaw.

Hand leaving my shoulder to easily catch my wrist, he used my momentum and yanked me forward, sending me sprawling against him with my face pressed into his shoulder.

In retrospect, perhaps my reaction was not my most mature or properly considered, but as they say, hindsight is twenty-twenty.

I felt his hand splay across my lower back as I pushed against his chest, preparing a violent verbal lashing for his manhandling me. He cleared his throat, probably about to say something to further antagonize me, like calling me _Ravie_ again. I shivered at the mere thought.

It was then I heard Jay calling my name, his voice coming from somewhere slightly closer than where I had left him.

For the second time that day, _'Oh, shit,'_ echoed through my mind as Robin glanced the slight distance down at me through his sun glasses, a question forming on his face.

"Who is that, Rae?" Robin asked me, staring carefully into my eyes

"That's my f…" I found myself pausing as my instincts screamed from the pit of my gut and my inner voice screaming from the corners of my mind. I quickly rationalized that it was unwise to refer to the tall male as a _friend_ because, Robin being Robin and all-business (bull**shit**, he could be as immature as Beast Boy sometimes), would blow the entire situation out of proportion and accuse me of jeopardizing my _mission_ (the crap-shoot it was), "Coach," I finished slowly, allowing my eyelashes to shade my eyes from his intense, sunglass-clad gaze.

Robin offered naught but the simple, intellectual reply of, "Oh," and I carefully stepped around him. Stepping into the light, I turned back to stand between Jay and my leader, who had opted to stay in the shadows of the curtains against the wall.

"Jet, meet _Richard,_" I almost hissed, glancing at Robin meaningfully, "Richard, meet Jet," I stated casually, praying to any deity above that the awkward introduction would give Robin the indication to make his exit. Robin offered a terse nod and Jay responded in a similarly austere fashion. Biting the inside of my lip, I fought the urge to pound in the face of the Boy Blunder who had dared to come jeopardize my (crap-shoot) mission for seemingly no reason at all than to grunt and stare at me.

However, when the head coach blew her whistle to signal the end of lunch, I felt the deity that had previously abandoned me smile down and grace me with good fortune.

"That's my cue. I'll see you later, Rich," I said, attempting to sound casual, as I turned on my heel toward where the coach has blown the whistle. I muffled a strangled sound as I was suddenly taken off balance by Robin's glove-free hand grabbing my arm and whipping me back around to face him. Once again, my face made an unpleasant acquaintance with the fabric of his shirt that covered his chest. Snarling, I shoved myself backward to send a bone-withering glare at his oddly passive face.

"Richard, have you forgotten English or are you merely deaf? **I have to go**." I growled lowly, feeling my temper rise and eyes narrow. Robin looked hesitant, as if mulling over the consequences of not adhering to my demand before letting go of my arms suddenly. Choosing not to question this blessing, I stalked off the stage and back onto the court. I grabbed the ball from the rack and began making my way over to the group congregated in the middle of the court.

Jay jogged behind me, oddly silent until he quietly blurted out a jumble of words before we reached the rest of the group.

"Is he your boyfriend?" I almost let out a snort at his outrageous question as I turned to face him, before his somber expression indicated that he was indeed serious.

"No," I could not manage keeping the laughter out of my voice as I considered such an odd notion and found it increasingly amusing.

Jay looked as if he was about to continue, a question on his face, but as he parted his lips to speak, I promptly cut him off. "Richard is just my friend," I continued, making sure to purge any trace of amusement or jest out of my tone. _'My stupid, prick, egotistical, holier-than-thou, leader.'_

"Well, alright…" He said slowly, as if either accepting what I said or considering it further, before shaking his head and changing the subject, "Would you wanna' join the group? I need to help them out anyway so…"

"Okay…" I murmured, surveying carefully the mass of animatedly chatting adolescent girls dressed in a variety of t-shirts, jerseys, short mesh shorts, and long flowing shorts of all different colors and sizes.

"If you don't know how to do something, I'll help you," he reassured, his ever effortless smile fully reaching his hunter green eyes and causing the dimple to reappear once again. We approached a group of girls and he either ignored or did not notice the distracted, adoring looks he received before he began orchestrating the teams, rules, and whatnot.

The time went quickly, I got the ball twice at most, but I was more content with it that way. I at least caught the blasted thing and managed to make a successful pass to one of my less than intellectual teammates. The instructors seemed to have taken to referring to me as Miss Gray, as apparently the name _Raven 'Rachel' Gray _had been the name submitted on the form that was given in when Robin had signed me up for this hell. When it was over, I hastily retrieved my things and was headed for the door, or salvation, if you will, when I heard Jay calling out behind me. _'Fucking hell.'_ I stopped and glanced over my shoulder at the taller male.

"Raven, you need a ride home?" He asked; a small smirk set on his pale lips and his green eyes dancing down at me. Of course I knew I couldn't very well have him take me to the Tower, but how does one politely decline these things? I knew Robin would be there any moment to collect me, and I found that there was no delicate way to effectively evade his offer other than simply being forthright.

"No, but thank you, I have one," I replied evenly from over my shoulder, staring calculatingly as his expression wavered just slightly.

His reply sounded far more like a statement than the question I'm sure it was intended to resemble, "Richard?"

I sighed inaudibly, "Yes," I responded quietly as I continued outside to wait for Robin. "See you, Jay." I was not waiting for very long before the aforementioned male pulled up on his shiny black motorcycle and offered me a helmet accompanied by a quickly forming smirk.

"Hey-"

"You will not dare, Robin, if you value the organs that determine your gender." I snarled, yanking the helmet over my head and fastening my small, draw-string bag to my back.

"As you wish," Robin replied haughtily, and I could be sure his leering expression lessened naught as we took off. When we finally pulled into the garage, I wasted no time in phasing into my room and taking a long, hot shower. With the comfort in the familiarity of my black leotard, I settled down in my bed with a book I had been neglecting. Needless to say, I was drained and all I longed for was sleep, but it was far too early in the evening for that.

I was largely contented being back in my usual attire, just as I was sure Robin was once again clad as if he was responsible for directing the traffic of the entire tri-state area. However, I was fully aware of the short-term nature of my comfort as I would be back to the foreign jungle that was my disguise in the morning that was only a few short hours away.

* * *

Robin knocked on my door the next morning and crowed like a rooster, but I had already been awake for quite some time. The door swooshed open and there he stood, clad in his inconspicuous civilian outfit. "I'll be right out," I murmured as I retreated back into the darkness of my room to swiftly perform the spell to cloak the gem on my forehead and cloak my hair to a normal shade.

I had put on the same thing as yesterday, thank Azar I had remembered to wash it, and I stepped into the hallway only to find my leader gone. I presumed he had impatiently gone off to the garage, and decided he could very well wait a moment while I poured some tea into a thermos. As I rounded a corner, he jumped out from where he had been hiding to startle me (and I would be hard-pressed to admit it had slightly worked, a clear indication of my slipping guard). "You're a child," I hissed, promptly pushing into his chest to remove him from my path.

Today he had chosen a form-fitting deep maroon, long-sleeved shirt that ended just above the hem of his dark-washed jeans, leaving his metal belt buckle and black leather belt exposed. On his feet were heavy leather boots and his eyes were shielded with heavily tinted Ray Ban sunglasses.

Robin chuckled and followed after me, hands in his pockets and tone light, "Where to now, sunshine?"

"I'm grabbing some tea and then we can leave," I paused and looked over at him from the corner of my eye, "remove that stupid grin from your face before I forcibly assist you in doing so."

Robin stopped in front of me, once again blocking my path and stared at me imperceptibly; "Try me," he said slowly, as if testing for my reaction. I scowled and weighed my options. In all actuality, he had in fact _asked_ for it, therefore the outcome of the situation could really only be reverted back to the fact he had instigated the situation. I rationalized that it probably wouldn't be entirely my fault if by the time I finally got into the kitchen a certain traffic light replicating, spiky haired, gel addict, arrogant Boy Blunder would have lost his life, or possibly his masculinity. Certainly, it would not be my fault at all.

I began by simply attempting to side step him, but obviously that would have been far too easy as he defiantly stepped with me. I then tried to shove him in a similar fashion as to how I had earlier, but it had no effect and I realized I would need to formulate a new strategy if I wished, and wished I did, to attain my bloody tea. Quickly, I recalled an interesting maneuver Jay had shown me briefly the previous day.

Jutting my elbow deeply into his gut, I slipped my foot to hook around his and shoved him backward, pivoting myself swiftly around him. He lost his balance and fell with a disgruntled and surprised _oof_ as I watched with my hands settled on my hips.

Robin gazed up at me, bewildered, and bashfully pulled himself upright. "Where did you learn that?" he asked, and if I was not mistaken I could hear a small bit of admiration in his tone. I forced the muscles around my mouth to replicate his trademark, cocky grin.

"Well, I suppose that's for me to know and for you to die trying to find out, Blunder Boy," I said and turned my back to him, headed for the kitchen. I poured my tea, _fucking finally_, and turned on my heel to continue out of the kitchen. I did so only to land myself, again, with Robin in such a proximity to me as to breech my wide berth of personal space.

_Switch to Third Person View_

Raven's breath hitched barely audibly in alarm, but the empath quickly regained her stony composer. She glared up at him, only to find that he was grinning. Her expression settled into a grim scowl in immediate response. The shorter girl sidestepped, and her leader once again followed suit.

"Ha-ha, too funny," If, if indeed, looks could kill, the resident Boy Blunder would have been cold, bloody, and lifeless on the tiled kitchen floor at that moment. And then out came the characteristic, teeth bearing expression that caused every blood cell in her half demon, half human body to boil.

"Hysterical," he agreed, although fully aware of the sarcastic nature of her comment, leaning intimidatingly into her like she had done only a day ago.

"You know, revenge won't get you anywhere," Raven replied frigidly, shoulders tensing and lips setting into a thin line as she visibly hardened her resolve.

The grin on his face grew prodigiously, "Who says I'm getting revenge? Although, revenge is a hell of a lot better when it is on you," he replied, tone smooth and, of course, very confident.

Raven sighed dramatically although her emotionless expression did not waver, "If you don't stop being a jackass I am going to be late," she paused comically, tapping her finger to her lip for emphasis, "Oh, I guess I will never have to go back."

Robin snorted charmingly, pulling his face away from hers and turned, peering at her from over his shoulder, "Race me to the garage."

"Pardon? What are you, ten? And, no, I'm not talking about your IQ," Raven added the last statement with a smirk, clearly enjoying her open opportunity to send a jab in her leader's direction. But in all seriousness, he had been acting much like a child ever since he had attempted to scare her, and then when he had refused to let her walk past, and now this fuckery.

"ReadySetGo!" Grinning, Robin shot toward the door and disappeared down the hallway.

"Robin!" Raven yelled and started to follow him. _'Oh, shit, is stupidity contagious?'_she mused, waving her hands above her and disappearing through the floor in a swirl of dark energy.

In the garage, Raven hovered in the air over her leader's motorcycle, waiting for the lean male to come crashing through the door._ 'Perhaps this _will_ be comical,_' she supposed, _'but why in the name of Azar am I engaging in these childish games? I really need to meditate.__'_ Raven's disenchanted thoughts were interrupted as she heard his chaotic stomps frantically making their way toward the door.

The door swooshed open and Robin crashed in. Raven did not waste time in slowly descending into the garage, gracefully landing within an inch of the machine and proudly relishing the shocked expression adorning the face of her opponent.

"Have you missed something? Do you forfeit, or do I just win?" Raven asked, allowing smugness to filter through her voice and whirl laughingly around the room.

Robin groaned, taking his defeat childishly, and walked over to his teammate and the bike. The esteemed Titan could truly be a sore-loser when he felt it fit. Robin smashed a button on the wall and the garage door creaked but opened swiftly.

Robin mounted the motorcycle and Raven climbed on behind him after fastening the helmet on her head, securing her arms around his wiry waist and grasping her small bag tightly. He revved the engine and the tires screeched as they sped off.

They soon arrived back at the Jump City Recreational Center and it became apparent to the empath, by way of his smirk as she removed her helmet and shook her hair out, that her male companion's mood had shifted.

Raven swung her leg off the bike and stepped back, handing him back his helmet as she spoke dryly, "Try not to make any unexpected appearances."

"You make it too hard to stay away," his quick response was followed by a _thwack_ to the back of his head, courtesy of the disguised empath.

"You could blow my cover, Einstein,"

Cocking his head to the side innocently, Robin feigned a surprised tone, "Wait, are you saying I'm smart now?"

"Good-bye, _Richard,_" Raven sighed as turned on her heel towards the center, steadying herself for the day of pretending ahead of her.

Robin smiled a nearly genuine smile, "Bye Sunshine!" he called. Before he drove off, he saw the tall male he had met the previous day greeting his teammate as she stepped in the doorway. He was unable to find the source of the sudden surge of anger that poured through him, his eyes narrowed but as Raven's false black head whipped back in his direction, he sped off back to the Tower. _'I don't have a good feeling about him.'_

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	3. 3: Deny It More, Robin

_**Greetings! Here's Chapter 3, revised.**_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Three:** Deny it More, Robin

Raven and Jay entered the gymnasium and walked over to the benches where she set her stuff down.

"So, if that Richard guy wasn't your boyfriend, then who was he," Jay asked, seemingly from out of the clear blue sky, but the expression Raven read on his face told her that it was something he had taken careful consideration about before asking.

Raven blinked, unable to decide what to reply with. Although it was painfully clear that telling the truth was completely outside of her window of options, the empath found herself feeling the slightest amount of guilt due to his previous naked honesty with her. Besides, she knew she had to consider why he even asked such a question. What did her relationship with her leader matter to the older male, what did he gain by acquiring that knowledge? Different scenarios and suspicions bounced around her over-analytical mind.

Stuttering momentarily as she juggled with her options as to what to respond with, she, thankfully, was interrupted by the coach blowing the whistle. Jay sighed and walked over to the coach, glancing at her over his wry shoulder. Raven followed suit and continued onto the middle of the gym, sitting down with the mass of young athletes.

"Good morning girls! Today we will be…" all Raven was able to discern from that point on was a jumble of incoherent ramblings that lacked sense to her in any of the many languages she was fluent in. The mass of players quietly stood and, she catching the cue to move for some unknown reason, continued to the other side of the court

"Okay, Leah, Tara, Kiera, Shayna, and Sara on the red team inside, on that side of the court," the lean blonde woman pointed, followed by, "Dana, Mackenzie, Therese, Kaitlyn, and Megan- you're white team on the outside court," she continued "Cat, Arina, Allie, Rachel, and Rebecca on the outside red team. And Emma, Sam, Sabrina, Alyssa, and Raven on the inside white team, down here." Finishing, the older woman looked up from her paper and watched as all the players hustled to their designated spots.

* * *

**The amount of time that a scrimmage takes, later and after lunch…**

The undercover empath had actually gotten the ball about four times and even had the gall to successfully dribble it a minimal number of times. She scoffed as Jay suggested she should have taken one of the many open shots she had, shaking her head at his teasing grin.

Raven flicked her wrist up to wipe the sweat of her brow and moved her hand along her bare forehead were her chakra should be.

Sighing at her predicament, being stuck in clinic where it was as clear as the day itself that did not belong, she made her way over to her bag and took a swig of her water. Raven's eyes widened as she sensed a very familiar presence, and she promptly imagined all of the creative ways she was going to kick his tight wearing ass. She momentarily indulged in her imagination as she irately imagined her leader's conspiring against her before deciding to make another unwanted appearance.

**Raven's Imagination**

The resident human traffic light paced, searching for ways to further irritate his dark teammate. "Maybe I'll paint her room yellow, or dye all her robes pink, or I could spill orange juice on all her books… she'd never get rid of the smell!" He punctuated his words with an obnoxious diabolical laugh, punching a green clad fist into the air.

He suddenly halted, his glove covered hand falling in front of him, his finger erect as he came upon another ingenious idea, "No, I've got it! I'll use my almighty, traffic dictating powers to stop traffic in the city! Then she will _never_ escape that basketball clinic!" He chuckled evilly again, and then allowed his arm to fall slack at his side as he muttered, "I would make such a good super villain, damn."

Robin quickly changed out of his costume and mounted his bike, giggling maniacally the entire way to the Recreational Center…

**End Raven's Imagination**

Raven turned around to where she could sense his distinctive aura, the smirk adorning the bastards face was the punctuating mark that set her off. She looked around and noticed that there was no one watching as they were all engulfed in their meaningless conversations. '_Good_,' one of her emotions chuckled evilly in her mind, '_no witnesses_.' She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, either at her inner voice or at the cocky stance of her leader above her, she wasn't entirely sure which.

"Sunshine…" Robin whispered, and Raven found herself wondering, yet again, how words could be formed around that smirk.

"Robin…" She hissed, but her tone became sickeningly sweet, "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

"Is that anyway to greet me-…" Robin started, his hands shoving into his pockets as he leaned against the wall next to him.

"Yes," she snarled, "Considering I shouldn't have to greet you _at all_." The empath narrowed her eyes pointedly, her hands taking stubborn position on her hips as she stared him down. Jay, watching them intently, entered her peripheral vision and she had to use all of her will power not to heave a heavy sigh.

"Look Robin," she hissed in a whisper, her gravelly voice taking on extra edge to it, "We're not going to catch this guy if I learn nothing while I'm here, so get the hell out of here."

Robin scowled, his eyes following where Raven's went behind his sun glasses. His eyes narrowed as he saw the black haired kid staring openly at them. His gaze shifted back to Raven as she turned and walked toward the taller male, shooting a warning glare over her shoulder at him. Robin inwardly scoffed, she was delirious if she thought he would leave her alone with that bastard who watched her like a predator watched its prey. But, aware of the very real threat of Raven's wrath, he moved fluidly off of the court to the very corner of the gym where he was able to see everything.

The group began a long-range passing drill, basketballs flying dangerously over long stretches overhead. Raven picked one up and cocked an eyebrow at her masculine instructor, "So, I can throw this anywhere?" Jay nodded, "Try as far as you can," he replied with an impassive shrug.

Next thing Robin knew, an orange blur was sailing at his head and promptly smacked him dead in the face. His hand shot up a second to late and held his suddenly very sore face under his tinted glasses. When the pain has turned into a violent throbbing, he released his face and saw, through a very dizzy vision, Raven smirking… Raven smirking a very teasing, very sadistic version of his own smirk.

Beside her, Jay had his mouth slightly agape as he glanced between Robin and the victorious looking girl. He was more than surprised when Raven chucked the ball at Robin's face but… somehow, he was delighted.

"Nice throw." He muttered and looked at Raven, who was still smirking, now very cheekily.

"Thank you. I have a good teacher."

"Okay girls! That's it for today! I'll see you tomorrow!" The head coach's voice boomed, dismissing everyone in the gym.

Raven walked over to her purple and white bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "See ya' Jay," she called over her shoulder and he gave a wave in reply. "Bye Rae." He replied with his signature easy smile before he walked off in another direction.

Robin had recovered from his shock and was now standing behind Raven. Turning on her heel with a slight jump, Raven glanced up at him as he gave a low hiss, "_Rae?_"

"Yeah?" Raven answered obliviously, cocking an eyebrow at the slow waves of anger she felt rolling off of him and crashing into her empathic senses.

Her leader growled, crossing his arms in front of his lean chest. "He calls you _Rae_?" He spat again, glaring over her shoulder, presumably at the 'offending' topic of current conversation.

Raven's artificial blue eyes widened, realizing the idiotic slip. "Uh… occasionally…" she said with a shrug of her shoulders, allowing nonchalance to pour over her demeanor. She knew he has his eyes narrowed at her from the twist his mouth took as he scowled down at him and his swirling, angry emotions were more than apparent to her. Despite this, Raven cocked an eyebrow as she wondered why it was really such a big deal that Jay had taken to the nickname. She was doing just as she was supposed to on this mission, forming ties (albeit, not very strong ones, but ties none the less) with the individuals involves in hopes of sometime gathering information that she would need to catch a, apparently, very anonymous criminal.

"Whatever…" he muttered, glaring at Jay pointlessly, who was picking up some basketballs and putting them away on carts.

"Let's just go, okay Robin?" Raven suggested, attempting to diffuse his sudden anger. Dealing with his testosterone-fueled temper tantrum was definitely _not_ on her ideal list of things to do when she finally got home. She had planned to shower, change into some comfortable clothes, and settle with a good book or maybe do some recently neglected meditating.

"Fine," he said gruffly, uncrossing his arms but not letting the tension out of his shoulders, "let's go." Robin turned and stalked out of the gym.

Raven sighed, finally audibly, and quickly followed him out. He had already mounted his motorcycle and was holding the second helmet out to her. She fastened it quickly, swinging her leg over and wrapping her arms snugly around his waist. Revving the engine only momentarily, he clutched the gas and they took off towards their home.

When they had parked in the garage, Raven felt him sigh and knew he was fighting himself to say something. Taking his helmet off, Robin turned toward her over his shoulder but didn't meet her gaze as he spoke quietly, "Look, Rae, I'm… sorry."

Also taking her head gear off, Raven lifted her eyebrow as she stared into the whites of his mask that refused to rise meet her, "Boy Blunder apologizing?" she asked rhetorically, her voice taking on her usual monotone, "Who would've guessed."

"Rae…" Robin murmured, his face finally rising to meet her eyes from over his shoulder, but the empath cut him off flatly. "Don't worry about it." Raven said, swinging her leg off the machine and handing him his helmet. Robin nodded slowly, remaining still as she strode towards the door, "You can't help being male, with testosterone taking over reason and making you act like a moron," she quipped and didn't give him a chance to reply as the door swished shut behind her.

He chuckled and ran his hands over his face, subconsciously recognizing the truth in her jesting words.

Raven entered her dark room and threw her bag on her bed. Grabbing some clean clothes, she entered her bathroom and turned the hot water of the shower on. She undressed and happily hopped under the warm water, relaxing her tense muscles and allowing the very slight scent of lavender that cross the threshold into her senses to enter into a slight meditative state.

Robin had changed back into his multi-colored costume when he walked into the main room. There, Cyborg and BB were heavily engulfed in their video games and Star was making some alien concoction that was bubbling and growling all over the place.

"ROBIN!" The alien girl screeched cheerfully when he entered. "You have returned! Just in time for my Glorrk! How joyous!"

Robin paled considerably but nodded anyway, not wanting to hurt the Tameranian girl's feelings. He surveyed the kitchen quickly, choosing to sit at a spot at the counter nearest the garbage can, where he would deposit the odd substance whenever the tall alien turned her back.

Robin sighed; allowing the tension to leave his strained muscles, happy in the knowledge of Raven's safety and distance from the male that so easily wormed under his skin._ 'What… upsets me so much about this? _I _suggested she complete this mission, so what the hell is the matter with me? It's not like I'm jealous. Why would I be jealous? I have no reason, I'm not jealous. __**Who is that guy**__?'_

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	4. 4: Night From Hell

_**Chapter 4 revision! I'm on a roll tonight.**_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer: **I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter 4:** Night From Hell

_Robin sighed; allowing the tension to leave his strained muscles, happy in the knowledge of Raven's safety and distance from the male that so easily wormed under his skin. 'What… upsets me so much about this? I suggested she complete this mission, so what the hell is the matter with me? It's not like I'm jealous. Why would I be jealous? I have no reason, I'm not jealous. Who is that guy?'_

Raven was just about to finally re-indulge into her book _War and Peace_ _(thank you Poison's Ivy)_ when she realized that if she did not want to be the one to unleash fury akin to the zombie apocalypse on the asses of many the following day, she'd have to get some sleep as it was nearing midnight. She had been meditating since after her shower, finally making up for her lack of meditation in one shot.

'_Well,__damn.__'_ Thought the empath darkly as she placed her book on her bed and rubbed her tired eyes. Depositing her cloak into her closet, the amethyst eyed girl climbed under her sheets and shut her eyes, willing to fall into the swirl of darkness in her dreams.

The moon was up at its peak and the luminescent light cascaded into her room and onto her bed. Raven nearly sighed contentedly, unable to have imagined a nicer night to drift off into sleep to. Clearing herself of thoughts, she relaxed and fell into a half sleep state, almost fully asleep…

_Thump, thump, thump._

Amethyst eyes shot open. The girl waited about thirty seconds of silence before closing her eyes and relaxing again.

_Thump, thump, thump!_

Amethyst eyes shot open again and the girl sat up. The thumping was louder, angrier. For another thirty seconds she waited in silence, before lying down and closing her eyes again.

_**Thump, thump, thump!**_

Amethyst eyes shot open again, the girl sat up, and a feral growl escaped her throat as her eyes scanned over her room. After waiting another half a minute of silence after the loudest booming yet, Raven sighed and laid down, closing her eyes, and shifting to her comfort.

_**THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!**_

After the loudest she was going allow the offending noise to become, smoldering eyes shot open once more. The empath shot up from her bed, a vicious snarl ripping from her throat, along with a scream of, "Holy son of Azar!"

Snatching her cloak, the _very_ pissed off Titan stalked out of her room and marched up to the roof, panels popping off the walls as she stormed passed them. Phasing through the door, she immediately started her angry rampage, "Who do I have to maim to get some damn sle—"

And there, her narrowed eyes fell upon Robin, the egotistical, arrogant, green tight donning, human traffic light impersonator, known for wearing more hair gel than Cyborg had metal, tied up in a chair, gagged, jumping violently up and down, thus creating a very obnoxious and very familiar _**thump**_ with each effort.

Stifling a sadistic chuckle at the Boy Wonder's expense, Raven took a careful step toward her esteemed leader. Something dashing through the shadows was caught out of the corner of her eye and she spun around, immediately sinking into a defensive position. Black energy swirled about her firsts as she summoned it, creating threatening orbs of shadowy aura.

"Did his pointless struggling disturb your sleep, _Rae_?" an ominous, mechanical voice teased from somewhere unknown to her in the shadows.

A wild growl emitted from her throat, "Who the hell is there? If you've come looking for a fight, I have one in supply."

The voice ignored her, and continued. "Poor girl, but lucky for you, your pretty face can't be phased by a little sleep deprivation."

That comment caught Raven off guard as Bravery distantly shouted something obscene within the recesses of her still sleepy mind, but she kept her stance coiled tightly and her concentration focused on figuring out the identity of the individual that had such gall (and apparent physical prowess) to tie up her leader and openly tease her.

A muffled growl brought Raven back to awareness. She eyed Robin, who was struggling wildly and pointlessly, and decided there was some sort of prelude between the two before she came up. Shifting her eyes back to the shadows, she was again caught off guard as her sight was blocked by something black. She discovered it to be a black gloved hand. A similar appendage covered her mouth, too, and her summoning chant died on her lips.

The surprised empath gasped as an arm wound around her torso, pinning her arms to her sides, and pulling her against a body about a head and a half taller than her.

Robin's struggling and growling became more and more audible with each passed second.

Hot breath tickled her ear as a young man, possibly late teens she roughly surmised by the feel of him and sound of his voice, spoke. "Ya' know," he whispered roughly as if to keep his tone out of the reach of Robin's senses, mechanical voice gone and speech was casual, despite the slight rasp, "the alien doesn't compare to you, and Bird Brain noticed, a little too late though. _Tsk, tsk_. Such a shame."

All of her emotions shouted things at her, mangled voices bouncing off the walls of her mind as she desperately grasped at the questions that swirled independent from the shrieks of her inners. Who was he? How did he defeat Robin? What the hell was he talking about?

**Moreover, just who the**_**hell**___**did he think he was?** First, he wakes her up, and he calls her that irritating nickname, then he grabs her like a ragdoll and spews a bunch of incoherent garbage into her ear.

"Mmmff!" her eyes went obsidian as muffled grunts escaped her throat.

The _bastard_ chuckled and silenced her powers by tightening his grip on her. "No, no, no, I can't have anything of that. Though, I do like it when you're feisty."

That shut her up. She tried organizing her muddled thoughts to come up with a logical solution for her predicament. Someone bound and gagged her leader, she was being held to the body of said person, she had no idea who he was or what he wanted, he wasn't making _any_ sense, and he was getting on her _fucking_ nerves! Solution…? Raven simply could not arrive at one.

Where the _hell_ were the rest of the titans? Apparently, she wasn't the only one thinking that.

"Before the other pests, besides Bird Brain, but I bet they are not as useless," he chuckled at this, "come up and ruin my fun, I have to go. But don't worry, I'll be back."

The surprised empath's eyes widened as something pressed against her collar bone as his hand reached up from her back and touched the back of her neck, and she heard a _click_ of something snapping together.

"See ya, jewel."

In a flash, she was released and he was gone. The other three, obviously weary at being woken up at one in the morning, titans burst onto the roof… and just in the _nick_of time too.

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	5. 5: A raven for a Raven

_**A new Chapter 5!**_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Five:** A raven for a Raven

"_See ya, jewel."_

_In a flash, she was released and he was gone. The other three, obviously weary at being woken up at one in the morning, titans burst onto the roof… and just in the__**nick**__of time too._

"What's up?!" Cyborg shouted as he and the other two sleepy Titans stumbled through the door. Beastboy had his sleeping cap half on and drool was hanging out the side of his mouth in a dazed fashion as he stood, or slouched, against Cyborg's leg. Starfire's long orange hair was splayed out in an Einstein-like manner and she was half floating, half leaning against Cyborg's broad shoulder. Cyborg, who seemed to be the support wall for the other two Titans, was standing slumped and drained of most his battery.

Raven sighed, standing up and dusting herself off, and spoke in a natural monotone. "Boy Blunder over here," she pointed her thumb over her shoulder to the still tied up and seething "Boy Blunder" who seemed to be _very_ aggravated, "got his butt kicked and got tied to a chair. But other than that, I know no more than you guys do." She turned on her heel and walked over to her tied up leader.

Kneeling down on one knee, she started on the ropes around his legs, knowing that if she started on the gag _she'd_ have to suffer too. The empath then untied his hands and immediately his hand shot out to the newly acquired ornament around her neck.

Using his other hand, he ripped the ropes off his torso and gag off his mouth, standing up and bringing her to stand with him. Incredulous, and a little more than irked with herself for so carelessly forgetting its presence, Raven glanced down at the object being tightly clutched in Robin's glove clad hand. Her eyes widened a fraction.

In her leader's hand, attached by a silver chain fastened around her pale neck, was a medallion of an obsidian raven with deep ruby eyes. It was flying in front of an obsidian sun outlined in dark amethyst with dark garnet and citrine jewels adorned in its flames.

The normally emotionless empath felt her jaw loosen by the beauty of the piece. The stranger's odd farewell finally clicked in her mind as Logic chimed in. One of her more obscure emotions longed to reach her hand to touch its smooth surface and feel the polished texture underneath her fingers. Robin was rigid and his every breath came out as a low hiss, but the purple haired girl paid no mind. The medallion was mesmerizing.

The gothic Titan didn't think beautiful was fit to describe the medallion. It was stunning… but that didn't seem right either. Was it gorgeous? No, that sounded like you would describe some trivial item. Was it dazzling? Dazzling seemed fit to describe it… but Raven thought she could do better.

It was absolutely divine, exquisite, and elegant even. The empath usually categorized such items as useless – a waste of time, and certainly a waste of money. But the care with which the medallion seemed to have been constructed somehow convinced Raven otherwise, despite Logic's insistence that the feeling was simply a product of her feminine hormones and tendencies finally kicking in.

Finally building up enough will power to tear her eyes off the pendant she looked up at Robin's face. His masked gaze was still trained on the pendant and his shoulders were shaking slightly. His jaw was clenched to the point she could practically hear his teeth grinding together in a way that couldn't be healthy.

"Robin…?" she inquired quietly and almost at once his gaze snapped to her face. "Are… you alright…?" That wasn't the question she originally wanted to ask, but she settled for it.

Robin growled under his breath, but said nothing as he released the offending item, letting it fall gracefully against her collar bone, only to turn and stalk away, passed the other, confused, Titans and into the Tower.

Cyborg had a confusion etched onto his human features, "What the hell happened?"

"Yes, why was Robin tied to a chair?" Starfire added in a curious and naturally innocent voice, more awake now. Though the same couldn't be said about Beastboy who was still leaning against Cyborg and producing muffled gurgling sounds.

"BB, wake up, man!" Cyborg said, momentarily distracted, shaking Beastboy.

"Yeah, yeah… I'm awake!" the green Titans whined, blinking his tired eyes. "…So, what happened? Who kicked Robin's butt?" Beastboy asked, yawning.

"I don't really know…" Raven sighed and started after him, weaving herself through her, still confused, teammates. She quickly phased into the main room, Robin was nowhere to be seen. She transformed into her soul self and phased into her leader's room.

He was pacing and almost knocked into her as she appeared out of nowhere. Not waiting for him to say anything, offer any excuses for his erratic anger, Raven began her questioning immediately. "What exactly happened up there?"

He clenched his fist against his side and began pacing again, "I was up on the roof-…"

"Why were you on the roof at midnight?"

Robin sent a glare at her, "That's irrelevant. Anyway, suddenly I hear something, so I got ready for whatever. Then I heard that damned voice, I—"

"What'd he say?" The empath interrupted again, her dry voice surprisingly laced with curiosity. The enigma that had attacked her and her leader on the roof was worming under her skin in a manner that she truly did not appreciate, and the purple haired girl decided she needed answers.

The masked leader practically glowered, "_Irrelevant._"

Raven sighed, a hand placing itself on the jut of her hip stubbornly, "It isn't, just _tell_ me." How was she expected to understand it all if Robin was to clam up on her? Seriously, she was only trying to aid him in understanding what had just occurred.

Robin grumbled something like, "Some stupid crap… irrelevant."

She sighed, "Whatever, continue." '_I'll get it from the security camera, or your head, later.'_

So, he continued, "After I heard the voice I got… riled up," 'So _he lost his temper, typical'_ Raven thought with an inward roll of her eyes, "and attacked. Then he stunned me and…. The rest you know."

Raven thought his story was missing a couple things, but let it slide… mostly. "Do you know, or have an idea, who it was?"

The now renowned "Bird Brain" of the Titans grunted and shook his head stiffly. Raven sighed, too tried to question him or object, "Alright then, night…." She turned, and added with a smirk as she strolled out of the dark room, "Bird Brain."

The door shut before he could retort but a promise for some teasing the next day hung in the air.

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	6. 6: A Surprise Visit

**_Wow, I've really been cranking out these revisions! Chapter six, everyone!_**

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Six:** A Surprise Visit

_The now renowned "Bird Brain" of the Titans grunted and shook his head stiffly. Raven sighed, too tried to question him or object, "Alright then, night…." She turned, and added with a smirk as she strolled out of the dark room, "Bird Brain."_

_The door shut before he could retort but a promise for some teasing the next day hung in the air._

Raven awoke groggily the next morning, grudgingly throwing herself out of her bed. The purple haired teen swayed faintly, feeling slightly dizzy, as that was a fast movement for her sleepy mind. Getting only four hours sleep has that zombie effect on a person, even an empath such as herself could be zombie-fied. She trudged to her closet, swiping her contacts off her dresser on her way, pulling out her basketball clothes and sneakers. She schlepped into the shower, turning on the coldest water possible, which was pretty damn cold.

After her arctic shower, the now more alive empath dried and shrugged into her blue shorts but this time pulled on a black tank top, just because she felt like it. A quick incantation and her gem was gone from her forehead, as well turned her hair the faux black shade she had been donning. Pulling her hair up, her finger got caught in something.

With a raised eyebrow, she walked over to her mirror. And there it was, she had forgotten, even through the shower she hadn't noticed. The empath must have already gotten used to the medallion hanging to a silver chain from her neck. What she realized though, something that startled her more than her forgetfulness, was that the chain no longer held the obsidian pendant as her collarbone. It was now at choker length, hanging leisurely just around her neck. Her hands reached behind her neck and a frustrated sigh blew past her lips as she found no clasp. Giving a somewhat crude tug to the chain only helped her frustration rise as it didn't break.

A frown of concentration appeared on her pale lips, trying to figure out how the chain had seemingly shrunk, and was apparently indestructible. It was impossible! Wasn't it…? Raven had a hard time believing in anything she thought she knew before that had anything concerning the guy that had given, more like attached, to her the pendant only some hours before.

Sighing, the empath resolved not to mull over the night before and decided to head into the main room, also curious as to why Robin hadn't come to her door as he did the past two mornings. Walking into the main room, Raven's empathy was immediately kicked on. She was flooded with a whole mess of emotions coming from her teammates.

Worry, anger, annoyance, sympathy, anxiety, frustration, and a hint of sadness hit her full force and almost made her stumble back. Looking on at her teammates, she noticed nothing much out of the ordinary, contrast to the rainbow of emotions emitting from the occupancies. Cyborg and BB were at it on the video games, with Starfire sitting on the couch beside them, "observing" as she did. Robin was sitting off to the side, in his "casual clothes" as Raven had subconsciously dubbed them, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

Raven strolled into the kitchen, recovering from the shock of emotions. Making her tea, as it was her morning ritual, Raven tried to pinpoint exactly where each emotion originated. For her it was relatively easy, worry and the sadness came from the resident alien princess, annoyance seemed to be coming from the green, vegetarian shape shifter, sympathy and anxiety came from the resident half robot, and finally the anger and frustration came from the Boy Wonder.

Suddenly, the spoon the disguised titan had been mixing her herbal tea with dropped into the hot liquid as an even more powerful anger hit her empathic senses. Feeling the source right beside her, Raven turned her head just to the left to see the Boy Wonder himself standing over her. Straightening her back, she gave him a look that asked, "What?"

His bare hand immediately shot to the medallion that hung teasingly around her neck. She turned her whole body to him as he glared unmoving at the pendant in his hand. "Why the_hell_ are you still wearing this?" He hissed down to her, either not wanting to startle the rest of the Titans or he was warming up to start screaming.

Amethyst eyes narrowed in a glare of her own as s pale hand snatched his away from the obsidian raven adorning her neck. "Like I have a choice!" She hissed back, and his gaze shot to her face in surprise. Sensing his want for an explanation, Raven sighed and turned back to her unmade tea, "I can't get the damn thing off, and it's indestructible. And, apparently, it shrunk."

Robin's eyes furrowed behind his temporary replacement for his mask as he thought about what the girl had said, _'I underestimated that bastard. Just like him to do something like that...'_

Hearing his thoughts through their bond, Raven's eyes narrowed in annoyance. That bastard did know more than he said! Did he know who it was that was on their roof last night? If so, why the hell wasn't he telling her? Sighing again, Raven knew she didn't have time to ask him all these questions before she would be late for basketball, which among all the drama, still had to go on. The empath found herself not really minding this fact as much as when she first had started the sport. She figured it was because she got away from the hell that was her home. Or perhaps it had more to do with the guy she had been becoming friendlier with over the past two days…

Shaking away from these thoughts, Raven poured her tea into the thermos. She looked over to Robin who seemed to come out of some thoughts and he nodded to her. As she left she heard Robin call to their teammates, "We're leaving, and I'll be back later."

Raven had gotten to the garage before Robin and she scowled at him as he entered before talking, "You will return here _far_ before _later_." Robin gave her his infamous smirk, coming out of the fog of his foul mood (though he frowned every time he caught glimpse of her necklace), and returning to his normal teasing self.

Both Titan "birds" mounted the bike and they arrived at the Rec. Center soon after. Getting off the bike, Raven heard Robin give his normal farewell, "Bye Sunshine." He received a punch to the shoulder before the girl turned on her heel and walked towards the Center. "Bye Jackass." He heard her mumble; only making his smirk grow into a grin.

As Raven opened the door to the Center, Robin sped off, still having the grin set on his face.

After setting her stuff onto the benches, Raven turned to the gym and surveyed the crowd. She saw the head coach, showing some short blonde girl how to do something and the rest of the girls were just shooting around and goofing off. Looking at the large clock on the wall, Raven saw she still had about five minutes until the activities officially begun.

"Hey Rae," Raven jumped, actually startled, and turned around to Jay who had somehow snuck up in her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I didn't think you were that easy to scare."

"Yeah, well you're pretty damn scary." Raven mumbled, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest. Jay gave a hurt expression, apparently waiting for something. "Hey Jay," Raven said, sighing. Jay smirked.

Jay raised an eyebrow and pointed to the medallion adorning her neck, "What's with the jewelry, didn't think you were into that." Raven hissed and tugged at the raven, "I'm not."

Jay chuckled and shrugged, "I think it's nice." Raven was the one to raise an eyebrow this time. "You think… this kind of thing is _nice_?" Raven asked suspiciously, not believing it.

The jet haired guy chuckled, "You mean like, gothic things right?" Raven nodded slightly, "You'd be surprised." Raven snorted, "Yeah I can see how skulls and spikes are like puppies and butterflies."

A smirk danced across his expression, "Things aren't always what they appear, right?" He finished, thus ensuing a slightly awkward silence of Raven mulling over what he said, if he meant it that is.

"Let's warm up?" Jay suggested, grabbing a basketball. Raven raised a curious eyebrow at his choice of a silence breaker, but nodded and followed the black haired guy onto the court. Jay seemed to be acting peculiar; cockier and a bit more enthusiastic. She found herself wanting to know the cause of his change of demeanor, but shook it off, focusing on the current activity.

When lunch came around, the undercover empath was more than glad. Jay had still been acting strangely, often confusing Raven with aloof statements and surprising her with sudden bursts of playfulness. Being the empath she was, she could sense the jealousy of the other girls rolling and hitting her in waves. Shaking any thoughts not of her lunch out of her mind, Raven sat at the table way off to the side where she was sure Jay would be joining her, though not quite sure what to expect.

He sat a bit closer than normal; about two and a half inches to be precise, almost touching her but Raven shook it off as her over analyzing senses picking up insignificant details. When his arm rubbed against hers, she thought of it just of the distance between them. When he leaned towards her to whisper something about some random girl and his lips brushed against her ear, she was unnerved to say the least.

Uncertain, the undercover empath shifted in her seat after he had put the small distance between them once again. Jay noticed her discomfort, "What's wrong?" Jay lent in and whispered in the same manner as before.

Raven swallowed subtly and took the chance to get the hell out of there when she had it. "I don't feel too well…" The empath lied, hoping the black haired guy would suggest she return home early.

Jay nodded, "Yeah you do look kind of sick…" Raven's eyes widened slightly, _'That bastard! I'm not really sick! How the hell do I look it?'_ Jay noticed her expression, "What?" Raven shook her head, "Nothing… I just… didn't think you'd notice…" She lied quickly, still cursing him in her head.

"How about I take you home?" Jay suggested as the coach blew her whistle, signaling the end of lunch. He stood and Raven scrambled up and declined quickly, "No, no it's fine I'll just call… Richard."

The empath could have sworn she saw his face scrunch in disgust, even for a second before it disappeared. "Well… okay, if you think he won't mind. I could just quickly drive you-…" "No, no, he'll be upset if I don't let him pick me up." Raven covered quickly, not immediately realizing how suspicious that sounded.

Jay's brows rose, "Upset, why? Is there something wrong with-…" "No! I just… promised he could pick me up. He likes driving around on his stupid motorcycle whenever the chance is made available…" Raven interrupted and lied again.

"Okay well-…" Jay started, only to be interrupted again by the disguised empath. "Yeah, bye." Turning swiftly on her heel, heading towards her bag, she ignored the "Feel better!" from Jay. After nearly running to her bag and getting outside as quickly as she could without flying, Raven took a deep, relived breath.

'_Safe…'_ The amethyst eyed girl thought flipping open her communicator. She pressed the number 1 for her leader's communicator. "Robin?"

"_Yeah Rae."_ She could almost sigh in relief.

"Come pick me up. I'm outside the center." The empath pulled her hair out of its band, getting more comfortable as she waited for Robin's reply.

"_What? Why, what's wrong?"_ Robin's voice sounded a bit louder now, as if inferring something more than his words portrayed.

"Yeah Robin… everything's fine… just, this charade is getting a bit much. I'll be fine for the rest of the week." Raven ran her pale hand threw her hair and gave a sigh as she waited for his response.

"_Raven, you don't just back out of things, what the hell happened?"_ Robin growled into the speaker, but Raven could hear the engine of the motorcycle running in the background.

"Robin," she imitated, "you make it sound like I was attacked or something." Hearing no response to her sarcasm, Raven gave a nervous snicker, "Robin?"

"_I heard you."_ Robin growled and Raven could practically hear his jaw clenching.

"Robin, what the hell is going on?" The question came from the ever crude girl, "There is something that you're not telling me, something important. It's unnerving to be left in the dark, you know." The empath growled, building up frustration.

"_It's nothing, Rae, nothing to be concerned about. I'll… I'll handle it okay?"_ He didn't wait for a reply, knowing she'd snap at him, _"I'm right around the corner."_

Raven heard a beep as he hung up, "**That asshole**!" She snarled, also snapping her communicator shut. Upon hearing his motorcycle, the empath picked up her bag and prepared herself for whatever mood Robin had chosen to pick her up in. Sometimes she could swear he had more emotional problems than her…

Robin pulled up in his "normal" civilian clothes, surely smirking under his helmet, and she mounted, squeezing him a bit harder than necessary, thus knocking the wind out of him. "Hey Sunshine," he wheezed, apparently in a new mood, "feeling better already?"

"_Shut the fuck up."_ The crude empath hissed. "As you wish," he said and they took off. Raven calmed feeling the wind wrap her up in a strange serenity as Robin drove at surely illegal speeds. Her temper calmed, clearing her thoughts and making them coherent, not rambles of her pent up frustration of everything currently going on in her life. Thinking of her frustrations, Raven was reminded that she needed to go into Robin's mind to find out what he knew about the guy that gave her the raven.

Unconsciously, her hand traveled to the pendant on her neck. It was infuriating, to not be able to figure out anything, even with her powers, about it or the guy that gave it to her. It could be set to explode and she wouldn't have the faintest clue! Though infuriating, the thought of the raven intrigued her to know its mystery, well more so of the person who gave it to her.

Again, she was forced to shake her thoughts. The thought of entering Robin's mind came back to her. She'd have to do a lot of meditating before entering his mind, at least four hours. Normally, she could enter his mind with no preparation but due to her recent lack of energy and time, she had been neglecting her meditation, which was also dangerous.

"Uh, Rae?" The empath heard Robin's voice ask, his voice coated with caution.

"Wha-?" Realizing they were already in the garage, Raven quickly released Robin and dismounted the motorcycle. Robin watched as she exhaled sharply and her disguise suddenly fell away with a swirl of black energy. Not even bothering to answer the questioning look Robin had set on her, the purple haired teen hurried to her room.

Checking the clock, which read 1:06 PM, Raven figured if she started meditating in an hour, she'd be ready to enter Robin's mind round 6:00 PM, when Robin would probably be in his room going over criminal files or in the training in the rec. room. An hour would be enough time for her to shower, get changed, and have some of her precious herbal tea.

Gathering her cloak, leotard, and the rest of her ensemble, Raven walked into her bathroom and took a shower in steaming water. After finishing her shower, Raven leisurely dried herself and dressed. As she left her room, she glanced at her clock which read 1: 43 PM.

Upon entering the common room, Raven was nearly jumped on by a very excited Starfire who exclaimed that she "have barely seen her dearest friend" and that they must "do the hanging out," which Raven gently declined, explaining in short her lack of meditation.

Making a beeline for the kitchen area, Raven blatantly ignored BB's stupidity in the form of a comment. After putting some water in the kettle, Raven went to go sit next to Cyborg on the couch.

"Hey Raven," Cyborg greeted his "little sister" with his brotherly grin.

"Hey Cy," Raven replied with the smallest of friendly smiles, saved only for her "big brother."

"How's the basketball thing goin', can ya beat me yet?" Cyborg joked, playfully nudging the much smaller teen in the shoulder.

Rolling amethyst eyes, Raven replied, "Yeah I'm like fucking Shaq." The only reason she even knew of Shaq was because of the metal head himself.

Giving a hearty laugh, Cyborg nodded his half metal head. "Well," he said after his laughter subdued, and her pointed to the raven around her neck, "that looks nice on you, suits you."

"Uh, thanks Cy," The empath said slowly, noticing the mischievous look on Cyborg's face.

"Any idea who gave it to you? What guy's ass do I have to kick for being your secret-?" A pale hand covered his mouth before he could even finish. The kettle boiled with a definite screech, saving Cyborg form his certain impending doom.

"None," she hissed, answering both questions at once, while rising from the couch and walking back into the kitchen. Pouring hot water in her black mug and placing her tea bag in, Raven did not even wait for it to steep before hurriedly going back to her room.

Again glancing at her clock, the time read to the empath 1:50 PM… Setting her tea on her nightstand, the purple haired teen sat cross legged on her large bed. Without any more interruptions-

A knock came from her door, "Hey, Rae?" It was Robin's voice. With a resigned sigh and a thought of _'Great,'_ the empath rose from her bed and glided to the door, though not opening it, hoping to shorten the conversation in any way she could.

"Yeah," Raven asked. She heard him shuffle behind her door and gave an inward sigh.

"Could you open the door?" Sliding the door open so her hooded face show, Raven waited for him to say what he wanted and go away. "Thanks, easier for me to talk when I can see you."

It wasn't like Robin to beat around the bush, and right now the bush was burning from Raven's impatience. "Robin, say what you needed to say or go the hell away."

"Heh, right Rae, sorry," after seeing her eyes narrow, Robin quickly got to the point, "I was wondering why you called me to pick you up early. What was wrong? Something happen?"

Raven sighed, shifting slightly before answering, "I'm not an actress Robin, nor am I a spy. Keeping up was getting quite difficult, after some meditation I'll be fine. I'm on edge, as you can see, anyway. Long periods of little or no mediation fuck up all my emotions and generally screw me up."

Robin thought about her answer and after a couple moments nodded, seemingly satisfied with her half lie. "Well okay Rae, if there is anything you want to talk about-."

"What happened last night?" Raven interrupted, hoping to get the information straight from Robin so she didn't have to infiltrate his privacy by entering his mind.

Her leader seemed to freeze for moments, "He beat me." The normally proud leader grumbled.

"Robin, _how_did he beat you? What did he say? You have to have some idea as to who it was." Raven emphasized, getting frustrated with the black haired teen's vague attitude.

He seemed to think for even longer before answering, "He beat me by being stronger than me, he said a lot, and I do have a couple of ideas."

Letting off a furiously frustrated aura, actual black tendrils were visible; Raven slammed her door shut and stalked back over to her bed. Getting no information and wasting another fifteen minutes did no help to her foul mood. Sighing, the exhausted empath assumed her cross legged position and calmed herself, willing for the serenity of meditation…

Meditation for the full preparation of going into Robin's mind took longer than excepted, as the empath found she needed more meditation than she thought and she also found concentration hard to grip. Finishing up her meditation at a little past half past 6 PM, Raven located Robin to be in his room.

Taking a calming breath, Raven tapped into their bond, assuming her soul raven self and entering Robin's mind. After flashes of random thoughts currently running in his head, Raven found the part of his mind that stored memories. Flicking past a couple memories, Raven found the one of the night before.

_Robin stands on the roof, not able to sleep, staring up at the stars. Upon hearing a startling noise, he whips around, seeing a dark figure._

Raven tried to get a clear view of who it was, but Robin had been thinking about it too much lately and she couldn't make it out.

_"__I wasn't expecting you to be up here," the mechanical voice says in slight surprise, which changes, "Well, all the more fun." He stepped out into the light-_

Raven still couldn't get a clear picture.

"_What the hell are you doing here?" Robin snarls, dropping into a fighting stance._

_"__Just making a delivery," He holds out the pendant, "You best not get in my way. I have every intention of getting it to her"_

_Robin growled, "Why? Who is that for?" Both Robin and the guy start circling, Robin ready to spring once he figures out why he was here._

_"__Isn't obvious? You're even stupider than I thought." Robin growled at the insult, "It's for Raven of course."_

_After nearly faltering in his step, Robin snarls, "Wh-?"_

_"__I know you've noticed. It'd be hard not to. She__is__intriguing- beauty, power, and intelligence, even to a brainless wonder like you. The Princess doesn't interest you, but you've realized too late." Robin's masked eyes widen as he realizes what it going on._

_"__I'm not letting you anywhere near her. Anyway, what makes you think she'll even accept that? You seem to know her enough to know that-,"_

_"__She's got one hell of a temper, I know." He seems to be pleased about this fact, "But I don't think I'll have to worry about her not keeping it."_

_"__Even if you can get though me, what makes you think you'll even get to her? Infiltrating a place in broad sight where all the Titans are? Not one of your best plans."_

_"__I don't think I'll have to worry about that, either." He points to himself arrogantly._

_Robin growls even louder and lunges blindly. He throws a punch which his opponent dodges easily. After flipping back, Robin slams onto the ground with three hard steps, jumping up to land a drop kick._

Raven's eyes widened slightly as she recognized the noise as the first three thumps.

_The Titan's opponent grabs his leg and throws him into the air. He then falls back unto the ground, bouncing painfully on his back, sliding on the floor, three times._

_"__You know you can't beat me." Robin's opponent taunts as he sits up. Snarling, Robin stands, taking out three birdarang. He throws each, but his opponent dodges each time and they explode with a boom uselessly._

_His opponent puts up a smoke screen,-_

_It is blurry for a moment before clearing up._

_Robin finds himself bound and gagged to a chair. Furiously, he pounds up and down thrice. His opponent chuckled, "Sad really, good thing I'm around. She deserves so much better than you."_

The memory began to clear as Robin's fury excels, and Raven concentrates even harder to see the guy's face. It starts to clear and Raven could make out his silhouette. Tall, built but lean. Furrowing her brow, she puts more of her energy into the details of him. He was wearing some kind of costume or uniform, totally concealing him. The vision started clearing like a fog lifting off the ocean-

Sirens blared, her brooch flashing red as her concentration was lost and she was slammed back into her own body and mind. "**Fuck**," She cursed, almost louder than the sirens. Breathing heavily, Raven tried to compose herself before transporting herself into the common room.

Once she was standing behind the couch, Raven grumbled a string of curses as she waited for the rest of her team. She was _so damn_ close! So fucking close and then it was lost!

The Titans spilled in, Robin taking the place in front of the screen. His masked eyes widen, "It's a robbery! Down by the piers! Titans, GO!"

They all arrived, Cyborg took his car, BB changed into a hawk, Starfire flew, Robin took his R-Cycle, and Raven transformed into her soul self.

"Okay Titans, I don't hear anything so split up but be on alert. The report wasn't specific so be on the lookout. Star, take the skies above the piers southern piers, BB take the northern skies. Cyborg, make sure there are no getaway cars on the road. Raven, go through all the northern piers and I'll take the southern. Titans, go!"

Arriving at the northern most pier house, Raven entered the shack like place. Instantly, she sensed another presence. The empath walked around carefully, locating all the possible escape exists and dangerous things that could be used against her, or with her. With puddles all over the floor, Raven used the reflections to subtly look around for enemies.

Something flew down behind her, making a swishing noise with its speed. Before she could turn, arms wrapped around her torso, locking her arms against her sides. The familiar feeling of a hard body pressed against her back confirmed that this was the guy that had given her the necklace.

"Hey Jewel," the mechanical voice whispered next to her ear, "I was hoping to see you again." A gloved hand moved up to the raven on her neck and hand across its smooth surface. "Perfect."

The intellectual teen looked down at the dirty ground, gasping at the reflection shown. Behind her was a very familiar mask. It was the mask was once worn by her best friend and leader himself. The mask shaped like a skull with a scarlet X crossing it.

"Red X!"

_**Go Forth and Review**_


	7. 7: Cloudy Intentions

**_Dun, dun... revised!_**

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:**I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Seven:** Cloudy Intentions

"_Hey Jewel," the mechanical voice whispered next to her ear, "I was hoping to see you again." A gloved hand moved up to the raven on her neck and hand across its smooth surface. "Perfect."_

_The intellectual teen looked down at the dirty ground, gasping at the reflection shown. Behind her was a very familiar mask. It was the mask was once worn by her best friend and leader himself. The mask shaped like a skull with a scarlet X crossing it._

"_Red X!"_

"Were you expecting someone else?" The mechanical voice teased, shifting his arms as if he was cradling her, instead of restraining the movements of his current empathic captive. Although, one of her emotions (probably one of the less favored ones) observed, the way his body wrapped around her form seemed more like a blanket than the suffocating restriction of the grip the thief had on her the last time she encountered him.

Struggling, obviously, Raven hissed, "I wasn't so sure… Release me, asshole." The crude empath had a usually short fuse that was becoming shorter and shorter with each passing moment she spent in the company of a male with an overly inflated ego. She seemed to be in the habit of doing such infuriating things as of recently.

And what really pissed her off was Robin; he could have at least told her the guy who gave her the beautiful pendant was a con! A con he created and they fought none the less.

She heard a mechanic chuckle, followed by his voice, "Oh please, Rae, you had no idea." Red X seemed to be so casual, as if he had touched her a million times. Few touch her, less are allowed to, and even less live after doing so.

"I was about to before you- what did you just call me?" She suddenly went stiff, totally rigid in his hold. What was the current count of arrogant sons of bitches that had taken to calling her that ridiculous nickname? What was the death toll? She believed it to be three.

"_Rae?"_ A rough fabric nuzzled her neck as his mouth closed the distance to her ear, "Does it bother you?"

That was it. The line had been drawn, crossed, blackened, ripped, then the metaphorical piece of paper crumpled up and thrown away. Eyes glowing white, hands engulfed in black, and black tendrils dancing around her feet, the very pissed off sorceress growled, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

Red X was sent flying towards the wall. He was surprised and had no time to catch himself or press that nifty little button on his belt. After crashing through boxes and finally hitting the wall, he said, with a cough, "Can I take that as a yes?"

Snorting, Raven countered, "Can you take a hint?" Her eyes never lessened in the dangerous color, nor did the black energy around her hands or feet lessen.

X stood and jumped on top of rather high stacked boxes. Lifting his head in a cocky manner, Red X replied rather smoothly, his mechanic voice made him sound all the more smug, "I can."

Smirking at his taking of her bait, Raven responded, "Well okay then, **hint one**!" A tendril shot up at him, while another shot from the ground toward the underside of the boxes, unbeknownst to X. Knowing hand to hand against Red X was defiantly not an option, she surmised long distance surprise attacks were best.

Snorting, X lowered himself preparing to jump, "Really, Rae, you think you can get me that way?"

"Hn, you make a good point." The tendril coming toward him faded, resulting in him relaxing. Raven was sure in three seconds the smirk, which was definitely under his mask, would be wiped clean on the face which she had no idea looked like.

Wood cracked and flew as the tendril of black energy shot into them from below. X was taken again by surprise and he went flying into the air, **"Hint two!"** Yet another tendril shot out and wrapped around his feet. An uncontrolled tendril ripped his mask only a bit as Raven's emotions fluctuated momentarily. Turning to get a better control with her arm extended, Raven attempted to slam him against the wall. It back fired as Red X shot an X shaped grappling hook toward her that wrapped around her and took her with him.

Gasping as they both were slammed into the wooden wall, Raven tried to gather herself for attack. She managed to land on her feet, only wobbling a bit, after hitting the wall. Coughing, she spun around to find X gone.

The cloak wearing teen was then crashed against the wall from behind. Red X turned her around to face him, where his mask was ripped on the bottom, revealing his mouth and his chin, and a bit on the top, where black hair spiked out, from the stray tendril that had ripped the fabric. "_Hint three_…" He whispered; probably in the sweetest voice she's ever heard him speak in with only those two words. His breathing was a bit heavy, not unlike hers. Preparing herself for a punch in the face or maybe another sticky X across her mouth, Raven was totally taken with shock when X lent toward her and something warm pressed against her normally cold lips.

It took her a moment to realize what was going on. He was kissing her? She was being kissed by a con? She was, in general, being kissed? Her logical mind could not wrap itself around what seemed to be so simple yet held so much complexity. She, the gothic, creepy Titan, never approached in such a human manner - maybe somewhat with Robin and his jesting - but never as much as Red X dared to go.

Wide amethyst eyes stared in shock into the white, void eyes of the skull mask. Her empathy picked up more emotions than the indifferent mask portrayed, reminding her that the guy under the mask - no _the asshole_ under the mask - was indeed human and skyrocketing her own uncontrollable emotions. Some boxes shook, then blew up with black tendrils thrashing about the room.

The strange, foreign feeling was interrupted as crashing and voices were heard outside the dock warehouse, forcing X to pull away.

"I'd love to stay and chat with Chuckles," the name X used for Robin when he was in more of a less serious mood, "but I have to run. You'll send him my apologies, won't you," Along with the mechanical voice, his arrogance returned, "Jewel."

With that word her senses smacked her in the face and she shot her black energy at him. He dodged, landing atop a still whole box just as Robin broke through the door that had boxes smashed into it, blocking it. With amusement, X addressed the empath, who was now livid with black tendrils dancing around her once more, "That's my girl!"

"X!" Robin shouted, and X turned toward him.

"Wow, you really are a Sherlock Chuckles! Too bad I can't sit around drinking tea with you; I already got what I wanted. Better luck next time, Captain." his head turned to Raven, "Bye Jewel," he then nodded towards Robin and the Titans, "Chuckles."

The elusive con vanished just before he would had been hit with black energy, and a bird-a-rang.

Several boxes in the warehouse blew up as Raven struggled to contain her emotions. She growled, willing to obtain control. After she had accomplished her goal of control, which took a few seconds, she pulled her hood up and faced her team.

"Raven, what the hell happened?" Cyborg asked, eyeing the blown up boxes scattered in the warehouse. "This place looks like a tornado hit!"

"Yes friend Raven, it is disastrous! And did you make those rips in his mask?" The innocent alien chimed.

"God damn son of a…" Raven mumbled, talking to no one but herself.

"Dude…!" BB yelled, covering Starfire's ears, "Innocent ears here!"

"Beastboy…" Raven snarled threateningly, "Shut the fuck up."

"Oh, she bites!" The green teen was then blasted through the wooden roof and off to some unknown location… An unknown location which served meat by the bucket full and vegetarian was as foreign as a French guy in Tokyo… Raven was not only a sadist, a pissed off sadist who had just been pushed over the edge by a string bean.

"**DUDE…!"**

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	8. 8: Slow Burn

_**And with this chapter, I complete the hell that is revising! Enjoy everyone!**_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Eight:** Slow Burn

"_Oh, she bites!" The green teen was then blasted through the wooden roof and off to some unknown location… An unknown location which served meat by the bucket full and vegetarian was as foreign as a French guy in Tokyo… Raven was not only a sadist, a pissed off sadist who had just been pushed over the edge by a string bean._

"_**DUDE…!"**_

Both Cyborg and Starfire took a cautious step away from the empath, one not wanting to be blasted to a vegan restaurant and the other not wanting to be blasted to a land without butterflies or interesting earthly hair ornaments.

Robin, however, did not take any precautions as he approached the empath. "Raven, really, what happened?"

Amethyst eyes narrowed at him, "We sat by the bonfire and discussed historical architecture, science, and the meaning of life." She hissed, her words dragging with the characteristic sarcasm dripping from them, "What do you think, Bird Blunder? We fought."

"Raven, I can see you're pissed right now," Robin started, and the empath rolled her eyes, "But did you see what he stole?"

"He didn't steal anything."

Starfire spoke up, "But friend Raven… it does not explain why the Red X would show up."

Raven subconsciously wiped her mouth with her hand, "Yes, it does." She said through clenched teeth, followed by the thought of '_the bastard'._

Robin's masked eyes widened suddenly and he turned on his heel so his expression could not be seen, "Well then, Titans," he started, his voice rough with anger, "Let's just go find Beastboy."

Reading his emotions, Raven knew he had read her actions and was pissed. _'Oh well, that's what he gets for not telling me _**shit.'** With that thought, the empath followed the rest of her team for the retrieval of Beastboy… unfortunately for her. Robin mounted his R-Cycle, Cyborg got in the T-Car, Starfire flew, though a safe distance away from Raven, who also flew until she got impatient and teleported to where BB was.

After BB was found, shaking and mumbling incoherencies about meat and sick, the Titans decided to head for the Tower.

Upon arrival at the Tower, Raven immediately stalked into her room, while her teammates congregated in a loud trio in the main room. The fourth teammate, the second bird of the team, also retreated into his room.

While Raven spent her time pacing maliciously back and forth in her room, a circle being worn into the floor and books being tossed off shelves by dark energy, Robin leaned over his desk in frustration and malice. His face set in a defined scowl, the former Bat apprentice clutched the edge of his desk firmly with his gloved hand. The more he thought about X, the harder his hand gripped.

After a long three minutes of rage induced brooding, the desk had sliced his glove open and in effect, his hand. Not noticing the blood trickling from his palm, the clouded-minded Titan decided to pay the resident empath a visit, wanting more details of her fight with Red X. Walking stiffly, he arrived at her door and punched in the code, letting himself in quite bravely.

Raven's head snapped up violently as he entered, her narrowed eyes fixing on him lethally, "Heard of knocking Bird Brain?"

Keeping his brisk stride, he walked right up in front of her and as he did so replied with, "Don't believe in it." Her malicious expression took a hint of confusion to the direct way in which he approached her, and she turned on her heel and strode to her bed in which she sat on silently.

"What is it you want, Blunder?"

Not moving a fraction of an inch, or waiting a fraction of a second, he responded firmly, "What happened with you and X, I don't want sarcasm," the lips at which had parted closed hearing that statement, "And I don't want 'Can't you figure it out?' Tell me what happened. No bullshit."

Never being one to miss a beat, Raven countered, "As I was patrolling the warehouse Red X appeared, we fought, then he had me vulnerable and attempted to shove his tongue down my throat, then you and the rest of the team bust in, he called you some names, and vanished." It hurt her pride to admit, but it was worth messing with Robin. The way he burst into her room bothered her more than she cared to show.

Robin stood there, slack jawed for a moment. Did he hear her right? Did she seriously just say what he thought she did?

Snapping back into reality, the leader's jaw clenched and shoulders hardened. He crossed the room to her bed in two long strides and grabbed her shoulders firmly, hoisting her to her feet in her moment of surprise. Jerking her forward roughly, he hissed rigidly, "Raven… Do not… Fuck with me about this."

Her dark eyes narrowed and he cut her sure to be sarcastic reply off with a softer voice, "No… You don't understand what this means to m-…" Red flashes and sirens cut him off and his jaw re-clenched. Releasing her he ran out of the room in a frustrated huff.

Slowly coming out of her shock, she shook her head and teleported out of her dark room. What could possibly be happening now?

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	9. 9: Stalkers

**I shot this a quick revision as I was reformatting.**

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Nine:** Stalkers

False alarm, of course. Stupid prison didn't alert them that they were having an emergency drill. Her day just couldn't get any better. Raven muttered curses sure to make bikers gasp and children cry as she trudged back into her room to go to bed as the birds began emerging to sing their early morning tune. Her eyes fluttered as she hit her soft pillow, and she called upon her mind to flex and recall if she had properly locked her door before flopping ungraciously onto her bed.

By her calculations, she'd be lucky to get approximately four hours of sleep before a day full of upholding pretenses and wholesome, recreational _fun._ The initial blankets of sleep began clouding her senses as she felt her breathing become even until a loud knock and an unwelcomed voice pounded through her door.

"Rae, can we talk?"

It would seem that her precious, blissful four hours would be dwindling even further down. Raven grunted in a manner that was neither intelligent nor polite as she stubbornly buried her face into her comforter.

The door suddenly swished open, "I'm going to take that as a yes," said a sheepish Robin as he stepped through.

"Peculiar, you should be taking it as a threat, considering it is _four in the morning,_" retorted the agitated empath, her words muffled and harsh.

Laughing nervously, Robin carefully sat next to her on the bed, rubbing the back of his neck with the same sheepish expression permanent on his face. "I'll be quick Rae, promise." Raven sighed and waved a weary hand at him to go on with what he needed to say. Swallowing, he complied, "Look, I'm sorry for being such a dickhead," Raven couldn't contain the amused snort she emitted before replying.

"Don't worry about it Blunder, just remember to change your tampon next time."

Robin chuckled, seemingly relaxing as he recognized her forgiveness, "Funny, real funny." Silence reigned for a moment before he placed his hand on her limp shoulder. "Seriously… I just go crazy at the thought of him actually hurting you, ya' know? ... I created him. It woulda' been my fault I don't know how I would've…" He trailed off, looking down solemnly, his hand sliding from her shoulder to rest limply in his lap.

Summoning great effort to lift her head, Raven spared him a glance from underneath her lashes, "Don't worry about it Robin, if I got hurt it would be my own fault for letting my guard down." He met her eyes through his mask, "Seriously, Blunder, can't you see I'm not a little girl? I can handle myself."

The latter remark caused Robin to once-over her subconsciously, _'Her, little girl? The last thing I would categorize her as.'_ Catching himself he straightened out his thoughts enough for a reply, "I know you're not, I just… panicked. As your leader, it won't happen again but I really am sorry."

Raven nodded, "No problem, you won't make the same mistake twice, I know you. You should probably change into your bunny pajamas and skip off to bed now. You have to wake up to take me to…" she paused with a dramatic cringe, "basketball." Shuddering, she allowed her head to fall helplessly onto her pillow

Chuckling again, Robin shook his head, "I'll be fine, you'd be surprised how well I function on very little sleep."

'_Is that a pun?'_ Raven mused sleepily, barely conscience of whichever emotion had giggled that within the recesses of her mind. Suddenly, she felt herself being lifted. Eyes shooting open, she gripped onto the arm of the person lifting her, hissing out a dangerous, "Whoa, Blunder, what the hell?"

He opted not to reply as he set her in the center of the bed, pulling her boots off and tossing them on the floor. "You know I'm gunna' have to clean that up tomorrow…" Raven grumbled, but did not object as she turned onto her side and nuzzled into the sheets. Smirking, Robin carefully undid her belt and placed it on the floor. Grabbing the cape he noticed next to it, he placed it over her body, not wanting to wake again her by lifting her under the covers.

Leaning over her and staring down at her sleeping features, his hand, having seemingly acquired a will of its own, reached out and placed itself on her face. His eyes lingered on the medallion hanging offensively around her neck. "Night, Rae," He murmured, for mostly his own clarity, and proceeded to leave the room.

* * *

_Wake up in the morning feeling like P-Diddy. Grab my glasses I'm out the door I'm about to hit this city, grab my keys brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack because when I leave for the morning I ain't coming back…_

"Beast… BOY. TURN THAT POINTLESS NOISE… OFF!" Raven growled as she shot up out of bed. It was eight o'clock and she had gotten less than four hours of sleep, again. Unless the changeling did indeed have the death wish Raven was tempted to deliver, it would have been in his own best interest to listen to the warning she had so graciously given.

A nervous laugh echoed and "Ke$ha's" voice disappeared, "Sorry Raven!"

Snarling, she swung her legs out of bed and wearily marched into her bathroom. After an extremely quick shower, she emerged from her bathroom in a black towel and just proceeded to dress herself in the same quickened pace. Conveniently, her black wife-beater and a pair of purple shorts happened to both be at the top of their respective drawers. The spell that put her disguise into place was becoming second nature, and in less than a moment her hair was black and her forehead was rid of her gem. Robin knocked at the door just as she started lacing her second shoe, "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming Blunder Head."

Robin laughed, the picture of merriment, as he walked down the hall wearing his civilian clothes towards the main room. Starfire greeted him excitedly as he walked through the door. "Ah glorious morning friend Robin! I did not get much sleep yet this liquid friend Cyborg has given me seems to have given me so much energy!" She bounced in cheery circles around him, her large grin putting light houses to shame.

Warily eyeing the very _large_ cup of coffee in her hand, Robin laughed sheepishly, as he seemed wont to do, "Yeah, it does that." Upon entering the kitchen, Robin fixed himself a cup of the glorious liquid and as he waited for it to cool off, Raven entered the main room.

The resident empath stalked through the door, tying her short hair up, as she was immediately bombarded by Starfire's chirping. She immediately put a pale hand up in front of her friend's face. "Now is not the time Starfire," she droned warningly, not sparing the taller girl a glance.

Getting the message, Starfire's mouth closed and she, not one to stay dejected for long, bounced over to Cyborg as he prepared waffles for himself and the resident shape shifter.

Raven put on the kettle, a shadow encasing the cabinet as she commanded her cup to be retrieved, before placing her favorite teabag in said cup. Robin eyed her tired face from his position leaning against the counter next to her as he sipped his magical brew. "Coffee?" He offered, holding his cup out in front of her.

Raven leered at the liquid as if it had just come off the mother ship. "I don't do coffee."

"There's a first time for everything, besides you look like you just crawled out of a dungeon, c'mon."

Blankly looking at his face unblinkingly, the dark haired girl retorted, "Lovely compliment, thanks. But next time I crawl out of a dungeon I'll be sure to take a picture so you can see the difference."

Snickering quietly, he withdrew his coffee and took a gulp-full. Raven just shook her head and poured the hot water from the kettle into her cup, "Caffeine addict."

"Close minded tea addict," was his quick rebuttal.

Raven shrugged, sipping her hot liquid happily, "Least I'm not going to be buzzing up and down every wall in Jump."

Robin smirked, "Then how do you expect to have _fun_?"

Shaking her head, Raven turned on her heel and started for the garage. "I don't, this is torture for me, remember?" Smirking, the black-haired leader downed the rest of his coffee and walked after her.

Robin had just dropped her off, muttering some pointless insults directed at the black haired guy surely inside the center, and she was setting her bag down as said person approached her. "Fourth day, I'd bet you were a little sore." Jay mused. Raven jumped slightly and turned to face him. _'Yeah but definitely not from this,'_ she thought crudely. "I scared you again didn't I?" Jay grinned proudly.

"Like I said, you're scary." Raven replied and continued to rub her eyes with her palms.

Jay gave her an inquisitive look as they walked out to midcourt, "Tired?"

Nodding, she responded, "Immensely," as they began their approach to the congregation in the middle of the court. Smirking, Jay replied, "We'll just have to wake you up a bit then," before joining the head coach.

Shaking her head, Raven muttered to herself darkly and she grudgingly plopped some distance away from a girl animatedly chatting with another equally as unintelligent looking female as she considered the words of her instructor, _'Great, another overly caffeinated psychopath.'_

They warmed up with suicides. Ten sets of suicides. When Raven first heard the name of them, she scoffed. Jay approached close behind her smirking, "Like the name?"

Raven didn't turn around, "Seems stupid."

He chuckled, "I figured you'd say so… But you'll see why they're called that," she was aware of his intrusion of her personal space but kept her wits about her, never one to back down from such a petty intimidation tactic.

"I'm doubtful."

For a fraction of a second, the pressure of someone's hands ghosted on her waist, "I know you are," he spoke lowly close to her ear, causing her breath to catch and eyes to widen, "About everything," she could almost feel his smirk, "We'll fix that."

And with that, he was gone, striding towards the coach as all the girls lined up on the baseline of the court. She could almost have imagined it, if not for the goose bumps she felt that had risen on her neck. Raven's insides quivered but the exercise began before she could further consider what had just transpired.

Raven now understood. She fully understood the name "suicides" and fully agreed that it was the perfect name to describe what she had just done. The retched exercise should be outlawed. It was torture, pure torture. The sheer amount of _running _involved in that pointless drill was staggering (quite literally). She had found herself using her telekinesis to hold her body upright and keep her legs in motion.

The undercover empath was sitting against the wall on the floor when Jay plopped down next to her. "Still dou- Shut up," he began, only to be cut off by her breathless growl. He smirked, not looking at her as he rose to his feet

Offering his hand down to her, he replied arrogantly, "Your mind over powers your body."

Rising herself, she didn't take his hand.

'_You are more right than you know.'_ The empath thought as she dragged herself to her bag where her water bottle, also known as salvation, awaited her. The short reply of "Apparently," was carelessly tossed over her shoulder.

It was the end of the session and Raven was gathering her things, getting ready to leave. When she turned towards the entrance of the gym there Robin stood, in all of his sunglass-clad, hair-gelled glory. His incessant punctuality could have almost shocked her… almost.

The previous days he had at least the decency to wait _outside_ when he was picking her up (apart from when he had actually come_ in_ to the gymnasium… the result being a basketball smashed into his stupid smirking face.) One of the more sinister of her emotions snickered at the memory.

Jay strode up next to her, slipping on his over-sized black hoodie, "Does he stalk you?"

Surprised by the first serious harsh comment ever to grace Jay's lips in her presence, Raven shifted the strap of her bag on her shoulder, "You could say so," and continued toward the alleged stalker.

Jay scoffed, smirking, as he followed the shorter girl.

The exchange between Jay and Robin was brief and could barely be caught by the naked eye alone. Ravens sharp senses caught a glimpse of a nod of acknowledgment from Jay and an even slighter nod of response from Robin.

Sighing, Raven bid adieu to the taller jet haired teen, "See ya…" She shuddered, "Tomorrow."

The pressure on her waist from earlier returned fleetingly on her left side, "We'll do suicides just for you, Rae." Raven thought she actually heard Robin's jaw clench. _'That can't be healthy.'_

Rolling her eyes and slipping away, Raven sarcastically pumped her first in the air as she began stalking toward the front door, "Woo-fucking-hoo."

Robin stiffly marched behind Raven, glancing over his shoulder to shoot Jay with one last glare. The taller male was smirking, arms crossed over his chest, and his face brimmed with arrogance. Robin emitted a low growl deep in his throat but continued walking out the door to his motorcycle. The two Titan birds mounted it without a word and took off at alarming speeds toward the Tower.

* * *

Again ... Again Raven found herself pinned against a wall by this guy… second day in a row. After getting home to the tower, shedding her ridiculous disguise, meditating, relaxing, and getting hopelessly infuriated with Beast Boy and his annoying Tofu song, she decided to go out and see the sights on the streets of Jump of which had been forgotten by her. The purple haired empath had been innocently strolling down the sidewalk from the book store reading her new copy of some popular teen book, chosen to be a book to help her relax some, when she was grabbed into a nearby ally and forcibly pinned against a brick wall.

Her pride was taking a serious beating here.

Attempting to ice her hurt pride, Raven quickly shifted into aggressive mode, aura bleeding hostility and face set in a decisive scowl. Inclining her head up at him, hating the fact she had to see him through her lashes, Raven hissed, "Would you just **go away**?"

"Aw, Rae," Red X feigned hurt, placing a gloved hand over his chest while leaning toward her to use his body to make up for the lack of arm to keep her in place, "That hurt."

"Boo hoo, I hear band-aids help," Raven bit out icily.

"Ouch, Rae, ouch; I'm wounded. I'll just be on my broken hearted way." X rubbed his chest and shook his head "sorrowfully." Using his height advantage against her, he leaned forward and pressed his chest where his hand lie closer to her face and looked down at the top of her head.

Instead of responding the way he wanted to his childish statements, Raven simply droned, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

Hearing his next (overly dramatic) statement as he said it, Raven knew he was grinning under that mask, "Oh, I knew you cared Jewel." He removed his hand from his chest and tucked it under her chin, inclining her face the full angle up at him.

Eyes narrowing into slits of malice, the empath's face was a stone wall of icy rage. He needed to either fuck off or tell her what he _really_ wanted from her so she could finally get rid of what was evolving from an annoyance into something far more complex… and dangerous.

_**Go forth and Review**_


	10. 10: A Crushing Weight

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans.

**Chapter Ten:** A Crushing Weight

_Eyes narrowing into slits of malice, the empath's face was a stone wall of icy rage. He needed to either fuck off or tell her what he really wanted from her so she could finally get rid of what was evolving from an annoyance into something far more complex… and dangerous._

Narrowed amethyst eyes stared maliciously up into the void white nothingness of the unnatural eyes on his mask that bore down on her. Warmth that emanated from the hard body underneath the black suit only fueled her rage. The way the tall, lean form of this criminal made her feel small and fragile against the wall beckoned the tendrils of dark energy to begin their angry dance on the floor near her boot clad feet. Her teeth clenched and ground together with every one of his breaths that brought their chests pressing impossibly closer in the contemplative silence that seemed to have engulfed them.

Raven was frustrated, needless to say.

She ached to be able read him, to find out his motives, maybe his thoughts. Her empathetic impulses itched instinctively to read the expression on his face, the manifestation of emotions dancing in what surely were playful eyes under the white blankness, the curve of his smirking mouth and furrow of his brow. Even worse, the dark Titan caught herself wondering just what he looked like, for less than useful (and quite possibly the dangerous she had previously considered) reasons.

Finding her resolve in a state of collapse, Raven forced her voice and mouth to function together to form words as she hissed, "Well, are you going to let me go or are we having a fucking tea party here?"

Red X's head jerked back the smallest fraction of an inch, and he shook it slightly. His sheepish laugh was contorted by the mechanical voice of the suit he wore, "Sorry, Jewel, I guess you had me a little distracted."

His words swirled in her muddled mind, her senses on overdrive causing her brain to malfunction. The empath found herself remembering the sweet voice that lacked the mechanical taint of which she had heard not too long ago at the warehouse. The same sweet voice of he who had kissed her in the warehouse, and who was now looming over her yet again. The empath caught herself almost, almost, yearning to hear it again. Yearning to cling onto whatever sense made him actually real and not some figment of her lonely, overactive imagination.

But then, did she _want_ to have access to what made him real? If she did, would it make him disappear? Would the reality of him cause him to finally heed to her several requests to leave her alone? Would it make her entire predicament disappear?

The question that caused her to inwardly stagger, the question that made her breath die in her throat and come out as a strangled whirl of air, the question that she was so quick to deny she wasn't even sure if it had occurred in her thoughts at all was indeed a frightening one to face. Did she _want _it to disappear?

The dark Titan may have physically been aware of the gingerly tightened grip on her upper arm and the sudden wash of concern that her empathetic senses immediately detected, but her overly strained mind failed to register the action.

Of course she wanted it to disappear. This entire situation was not only a hindrance on her personally, but it was a danger to her and her teammates. Red X was a serial felon, interested in gaining the upper hand on those that were a thorn in the side of his criminal actions. In addition, the mere communication she had been allowing between herself and this con was basically and obviously unethical, immoral, and down right against everything she fought for.

The last notion almost made her question her own basic being and morality, and what exactly it was that she fought for, but the thought was simply too terrifyingly familiar to let linger any longer. Raven had long since avoided the self-examination that always brought her back to why she existed and who exactly made that existence a reality. It was never a pleasant conversation with herself that ensued as the cause of it.

As she violently disregarded those self-destructive thoughts, the offensive robotic voice that plagued her grated against her ears and caused a shudder to rake across her shoulders and down her spine, "Rae, you're not about to go all psycho on me, are you?"

The smaller Titan's heliotrope eyes widened, as she indeed was not planning on losing her senses in the dangerous spot she found herself in, but discovered that indulging in such a release of her pent up emotions seemed extremely attractive at that moment. Before such an indulgence could be taken, the ever annoying sound of her communicator came to life.

Without hesitation, the taller masked man leaned away from her and received the offending object from her belt where it had been placed next to her recently purchased book, opening it silently. Raven felt her mouth drop open somewhat at his brashness and she snatched the thing away from him as soon as her wits came back about her.

"Rae?" Robin's partially altered voice came through over the small speakers, "Is everything alright? You've been gone for a while."

Raven recognized that this was the moment of truth and it had come far before she was prepared for it. She would have to decide what it was she was doing here. Would she tell Robin of Red X's presence, as it seemed X was not planning on intervening with her reply since he had taken to leaning down against her tense body and resting his face in the crook of her rigid neck, and request back-up? Or would she lie, implicating herself as a guilty party and joining sides with the criminal whose motives were questionable at best?

"Rae, you there?"

But, it seemed fate or whatever deity it was that existed smiled on her that day (for the first time in a very long time, she might add if she was so inclined). Almost as if he was taking pity on her, the criminal did not obligate her make the decision she was so desperately grappling with.

Red X straightened his back, titling his head to the right faintly and Raven yet again wished desperately for the ability to read his expression. His shoulders shook gently with a silent chuckle, accompanied by a shake of his head. A gloved hand moved swiftly to the bottom of his mask and tugged it up and, before his actions could he registered by the mentally drained female, the same hand grasped the back of her head, effectively pulling her to him again. He planted the briefest kiss on her forehead before disappearing with a touch of the button on his belt.

Blinking, the empath deftly pushed a button on the communicator and spoke blankly, "Yes, I'm coming home now."

She would later reflect on if Red X's evasive actions were indeed such a blessing on her or if they would dig her deeper in this trench of confusion and guilt.

….

Black fabric pulled away by a gloved hand revealed a smirking face wearing an expression of a mixture of joy and disbelief. The male couldn't believe how successfully that unplanned encounter had gone. It was just by chance that he had been gathering security information about the silo near the book store where she had come gliding out from. Running a hand through thick, dark locks, he chuckled to himself and leaned back on the battered couch he had transported himself to.

Recalling the hesitation he saw on her face as her questioning eyes flickered from him to the device in her hand, he couldn't help but allow the tiniest hints of a genuine smile to creep across his mouth.

He would later reflect on how the waning afternoon light cast shadows across her fair face as her intelligent eyes glowered searchingly into the mask covering his own and how her breath had hitched considerably by his simple departing kiss.

….

Materializing outside of the door to the common room in the dark energy that was her signature, Raven clenched her eyes shut. She rubbed her eyelids with the palms of her pale hands and rolled her slender shoulders tentatively.

With her eyes reopened, the empath allowed her natural blank façade to position her features and nearly sighed in relief as the familiarity of the demeanor washed over her. However, she was in no position for relief and the feeling alone was not enough to relax the tension in her shoulders or remove the robotic feeling of the next steps taken by the reluctant female.

As the lips of the door were just beginning to smoothly swish separate, her anxiety brought upon a fleeting consideration of the possible benefits to pulling her hood up. But that felt too much like hiding than she was willing to become comfortable with.

The logical Titan decided to, at least momentarily, shake the ridiculous guilt she felt; determining to cease the irrational path that her usually controlled emotions had forged she found her resolve hardened.

Raven blamed it on her lack of meditation, another hindrance caused by this stupid undercover basketball mission, as she stepped into the commons, only to be greeted by her friends.

Cyborg and Beastboy sat rather actively on the large couch, energetically shouting obscenities at each other while competing over the dim-witted video game flashing vehemently on the huge television screen. Starfire was bounding about happily, giving her bizarrely ugly alien pet a bath in the sink… where they washed utensils… which they used to eat. The green oozing substance trickling from the organism into the drain of the sink made the empath inwardly cringe. She made a mental note to pour acid in the sink later. Strong waves of emotions attacked her senses and alerted the darkest Titan to her leader's presence. He was rising from his seat at the counter and on his way before her the millisecond the sound of the door shutting behind her could be heard.

Pausing the game momentarily, Cyborg and the green changeling threw a greeting to her over their shoulders and quickly continued their epic, moronic virtual battle. Starfire chirped an enthusiastic greeting to her from the sink, throwing a sudsy arm up before quickly realizing her mistake when the creature began violently squirming, attempting to make a desperate escape. Typically, Robin made his way completely into her personal space, asking a plethora of questions that were utterly too much for her still fairly frazzled mind to comprehend.

A long, slender pale finger was pressed against his lips and Robin was forced to cease his incessant questioning. His masked eyes widened while Raven's stoic guise remained unchanged while she spoke, answering all of his voiced questions at once.

"I'm fine," truth, "there was a long line at the book store," truth, "I was fine when you called, the… tiredness is just wearing on me." Well, that was half-truth. A relatively stretched fact. She was in fact very tired, mentally and psychically, but for more reasons than her leader and best friend was aware of. Guilt crept back up her spine and crawled across her nerves all the way to the ends. She suppressed a shudder.

Seemingly accepting her answers, Robin exhaled and allowed himself to uncoil. His gloved hands reached across the short distance between them, gripping her cape clad shoulders with comfortable pressure. "I know you don't need me watching over you, I know you're not a little girl," the leader began, staring down into her emotionless amethyst eyes probingly through his white mask as one of her brows quirked habitually, "but I worry."

The sparse widening of her eyes at his blunt remark, Robin quickly added to his statement, "You've got a lot right now with being undercover, the guy were looking for could be anywhere. Because, you know, we're a team and we need to look out for each other. It's the only way we'll get by." He finished his lame statement with an equally lame half smile that beckoned her own lips to curl up in response on their own accord. The hands that had gripped her shoulders suddenly fell back down to his sides as if they had just realized the position they had been in.

From behind him, Cyborg's voice boomed laughingly as he called out to the resident empath, "Hey Raven, how 'bout you and me go up to the roof and you can show me all those moves you must be learning at that damn clinic."

Raven's mouth twitched in the slightest semblance of a smile, appearing more like a smirk, as she replied quietly in her normal gravelly voice, "Sure, Cy, I'd love to blow off some steam."

…

With labored breathing and a heaving chest, Raven gave the individual she wholeheartedly considered as an older brother a small, genuine smile. Cyborg, not even close to being winded by their little game, grinned in response and patted the much smaller girl on the back, "Not too bad there, shorty. Maybe they really are teaching you something."

Untying her short hair and letting it fall against her slender neck, she shook her head with a rough laugh, "Did you think I was kidding when I told you I was Shaq?" She took a few generous gulps from a water bottle.

The metal head countered with a hearty laugh, "You can do anything you set that dark little mind of yours to."

The sincerity of the smile gracing her face disappeared and she had to force herself to maintain the expression. She knew he meant what he had said, which made his faith in her all the more painful to witness. "Well, thanks for the game, Cy. Try not to overwork yourself so much next time."

She materialized in a blanket of her dark energy and the bark of his laughter faded quickly.

Gritting her teeth as she trudged into the bathroom for a quick shower, Raven allowed her dangerously sifting emotions to run free for a brief moment before gathering herself. Shelves and books ended up in bedlam as the result of her momentary slip.

She definitely should **not** be feeling this way, at all. The interaction with Cyborg brought the crushing weight of guilt back down upon her chest and nearly left her gasping with its intensity. Robin's blind concern for her safety and her reckless disregard for that same thing intensified the weight as she ran the shower water as hot as possible on her muscles.

This was all that damned Red X's fault. Fuck it; it was Robin's fault too for not just telling her what the fuck was going on from the beginning of this damn thing. She absolutely abhorred all of these strong emotions that somehow overpowered her willpower to suppress them. The entire situation was just a fucking-

A light bulb somewhere in her room exploded and the shattered pieces fell inharmoniously to the floor.

_Deep breath. _

_Deep breath._

_Azarath Metrion Zinthos._

_Must calm down._

The empath eventually made it out of the shower in one piece, toweled off, and situated herself in bed garbed in her comfortable sleeping attire of choice. Meditating herself into a restless sleep, the dark Titan was at least able to gather control of herself and the strongest of her rampant emotions before dozing off.

"Rae?" He knocked on the door hesitantly at first, "Are you still awake?" The Titan leader had found himself restless as sleep evaded him before he decided to knock on her door.

A sleepy growl sounded from behind the door as Raven stirred from her sleep, "What in fuck's name…" she snarled, just loud enough for him to hear.

Cautiously, Robin stepped into the dark room and located the empath, who was sprawled across her large bed clad in her black leotard alone. She sat up against the headboard with a groan and beckoned him forward in contrast with the threatening glare that was made visible by the barest of lunar light illuminating the room through the bay window.

Striding forward carefully, the leader came to a stop a foot from her bed side, awkwardly waiting for her response to his presence. "Yes?" she muttered, staring up at him with a mixture of incredulity and annoyance.

He swallowed thickly in fear of her and sat at the edge of the bed, facing the sleepy female. Reaching across, his gloved hand quietly moved a strand of tousled purple hair from her face, inciting a surprised look from the agitated empath, "Rae, listen, I'm going to have tomorrow be your last day at the clinic. You don't have to continue for next week's session. We can find some other way to find the guy, even if it means staking out the Rec. Center." Her face seemed to be dawning with understanding in one of the rare moments she chose not to mask her emotions, but he continued on anyway. Clearing his throat and dropping his voice down to a murmur, his hand found its way to under her chin as he gently held her face level with his, "I wasn't kidding earlier, but I didn't say it right. I'm worrying about you too much, and I regret asking you to do this. I bet Red X is somehow involved and that's why he targeted you. I'm kicking myself in the ass for putting you at risk. I…"

Robin found himself yet again cut off by the same long, pale finger pressed against his lips, "Hey, Bird Brain, I get it. I'm in shit deeper than I can stand in. I'm not going to argue with you about this, I didn't even want to do it in the first place." The softer tones she spoke in, in contrast with her normally gruff, curt voice, made him relax.

"Now get your tight wearing ass back to bed before I kick it all the way back to Gothem."

He would later reflect on his growing attachment and closeness and what that meant for his team.

_**Go forth and Review**_


	11. 11: Meet Me at the Tea House

_Before You Read: __**Yes, I am posting this at three o'clock in the morning.**__ I'm __**so**__ sorry this took so long, this was only half of what I had originally planned for the chapter but I figured I should post it as is. Something is better than nothing, ne? __**Thank you everyone who voted!**__ I really appreciate your opinion, and, according to the results I got, I will try to please everyone with how I write the ending (including myself). It will be tough of course, but definitely worth it! Without further ado… here is Chapter 11._

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans, all I own is Jay.

**Chapter Eleven:** Meet Me at the Tea House

The engine roared to life as the Titan leader took off at recklessly high speeds, leaving the image of the normally purple haired girl to get smaller and smaller as the distance created by the multi cylinder engine increased rapidly.

Raven ceased her nonchalant waving and as she watched him speed off, she recalled his ominous departing words, _"Keep an eye out for anything or anyone acting suspiciously. Watch your back and I will be back here the minute it's over. It's Friday, today is your last day, it will be over sooner than you'll even realize."_ If she was to be quite honest with herself, she could not fathom any of the athletically inclined and dedicated players or instructors focusing on anything outside the world of jump-shots, fruity deodorant, ankle braces, and bruised knees, but the empath would honor the request (or order) from her leader and friend regardless.

Jay was nowhere to be seen, even as she stepped on the court and took a quick survey around the area, so she continued her business of stretching her sore muscles and examining her disguise to be sure it was properly in place. False, wide blue eyes and a pale forehead clear of her chakra stared deceivingly innocent back at her through the small mirror of her compact. Dark shadows underlined her large eyes more than that which was natural for her. '_Thanks to the Boy Blunder, no doubt.'_

The daily activities ensued normally, apart from the obvious absence of the tall, lean dark haired male with an easy smile and probing green eyes. About three painful running drills later, the previously absent male calmly glided with long strides into the gym, clad in dark grey sweatpants and a black hoodie, sporting proudly dark circles much more severe than her own that shadowed those same viridian eyes. His dark hair was more carelessly unkempt than she noticed was habitual to him and his hands raked through it anxiously.

Quirking her brow while sipping down some water during her short water break while the instructors took time to talk amongst themselves, the undercover Titan bird studied the older male as he approached her.

'_Looks like I'm not the only one who had a long night last night.'_

The taller male set his things down haphazardly against the wall and collapsed gracelessly to sit next to them. Finally looking up to meet her bemused face, he beckoned her over to sit down next to him. Throwing a questioning glance over her shoulder to the huddled instructors, the undercover empath was interrupted before she could voice her concern. "They'll be there for a while, they're arguing about team arrangements," Jay droned and motioned her over again.

"How thoughtful of you to grace us with your presence," the slight girl deadpanned as she gracefully folded her legs beneath her and joined him on the floor against the wall. She appraised him from the corner of her falsely colored eyes; his shoulders seemed more tense than usual and his hands wrung together incessantly.

Despite his seemingly restless body language, the smile that slipped easily over his expression and brought upon the dimple on his cheek fully reached his eyes, "Have you known me for being anything but?"

"I haven't known you for long. I barely know you at all," Raven countered pointedly, her calculating gaze never faltering from reading him.

Chuckling, Jay thrust his hand toward her, "No, we haven't," he agreed, "Name's Jason. I'm not from around here. I like basketball and motorcycles. I dislike waking up early for an entire week."

Raising an eyebrow, she stared at his outstretched hand as she considered his words, "Jason, hm? And the need for two nicknames came from what exactly?"

His dark eyebrows furrowed, the corners of his lips twitching in response to her question, "Are you going to shake my hand and introduce yourself, or not?"

Sighing resignedly, Raven complied, reluctantly placing her smaller hand very lightly in his much larger one as she spoke, "Raven. I am not from here, either. I like books and quiet. I dislike this conversation and those who avoid questions." He grinned in response as he grasped her soft hand firmly and shook it. The warmth from his callused palm that tingled against her own contrasted sharply to the cold fingertips pressed gently nearly onto her wrist.

"I didn't _need_ two nicknames. It just kinda… turned out that way," he finally answered slowly before locking eyes with the disguised girl and changing the subject entirely, "So, now that you know who I am, what are you doing after today is over?"

Raven took curious note that he had yet to release her hand as she replied slowly, "Showering is first on the agenda…"

A chuckle once again rose from his throat and he slowly released his hand, allowing the chilled tips of his fingers to ghost against her palms and down her slender fingers, "I should hope so. And after that?"

Her shoulder gave a slight, nonchalant movement that would have been the equivalent to a shrug for any other individual.

The whistle blew in the distance from somewhere to the right of them.

A grin returning with a vengeance, Jay pushed his long body up and stood before her, offering his hand, "Good, then you'll be able to come out with me and really get to know me."

Again, the empath stared at his offered hand with calculating eyes, although now she processed the abrupt request (if it could be called that) he had made. Slowly, she reached up and allowed him to grasp her hand, yet again, effectively pulling her right out of her sitting position to stand in front of him.

"I can't be sure…" she trailed off, eyeing him suspiciously.

"You don't have to be, come out with me it's not a big deal," he suggested again with a grin, before playfully adding, "After your shower, of course. It won't _that_ be horrible, I promise."

Eyebrows furrowing, Raven shifted her weight uncomfortably, obviously trying to formulate a response to such an invitation.

"Aw, come on Rae. Live a little," Seeing that she still looked skeptical and about thirty seconds away from flat out refusing, he quickly adjusted the offer, "How 'bout this, I'll be at the tea house on 25th at five tonight. You don't have to give me an answer, whether you show up or not is answer enough."

Even if she had been able to form a proper response, she was robbed of the chance as he was impatiently called away from her. The undercover empath watched him jog away before shaking herself of her reverie and silently joining the group of chatting players.

A long few scrimmages, "fun" shooting games, and a long lecture about the importance of hard work and improvement later, Raven was gathering her things by the benches preparing to leave when she felt, rather than heard, Jay approach her from behind. She thought she felt the ghost of his hand on the small of her back, but the sensation was so slight and fleeting she could almost convince herself it was a trick of her mind.

He grinned as he stood in her way, toned arms crossed over his chest, "So I'll be seeing you later, right Rae?"

Pinning him with calculative glance, Raven sidestepped him and only offered a response from over her shoulder, "If you don't recall, I never gave you an answer, blockhead."

Robin materialized in the door way not thirty seconds after the final whistle dismissed them, jaw hardening but expression otherwise stoically unreadable, and waited, motionless, for her. The intimidating waves rolling off of him forced her to steel her resolve (that is to prevent him from causing any sort of confrontation on the last day she would have to see the young instructor) as she quickly approached him. She didn't have to follow his gaze to know he was holding verdant green eyes in a deadlock of testosterone fueled competition.

Sighing, the drained empath subtly placed her hand on her leader's chest- forcing him to tear his eyes away from the ridiculous battle he was involved in with the taller male to finally meet her eyes and acknowledge her existence. "Let's go," she murmured for only him to hear. The erratic thumping she felt from under her palm and the rigid placement of his shoulders betrayed his forced impassive façade and she pushed lightly against him for emphasis.

His jaw shifted and he hesitated, causing her to think he wasn't going to comply, before he huffed and turned on his heel. Not before he walked away, though, did he grab her wrist to tug her along with him, preventing her from turning to see what would be a very smug expression adorning the face of the young instructor.

Scowling, she allowed herself to be pulled only until they had reached his motorcycle, where she promptly yanked her wrist away from his grasp. "I'm not a child, Robin, and I don't appreciate being treated as such."

Whirling on her, her leader growled and bared his teeth in his usual furious manner, grabbing her by the shoulders and yanking her forward. "A child could follow orders better, Raven, I told you to be careful!" He was only rewarded with a glimpse of her wide-eyed, lips parted in surprise at his sudden outburst, before her expression sank back into its usual scowl.

"I was careful; I didn't speak to a single person today without a thorough search of their emotions. I didn't come across anything more serious than petty jealousy and competition of teenage girls," her usual monotonous tone had a sharp, chastising edge to it as she snapped, "Believe it or not; I am capable of handling and _controlling_ myself in _tense_situations." The last statement she made had been specifically chosen for the sole purpose of getting under his skin and forcing him to realize how ridiculous he was being.

As it did well to serve its purpose, Robin sighed, allowing his hands to slide down her arms to gently grasp her elbows, and his posture deflated as he absorbed the verbal lashing. He leaned down into her, pressing his forehead against hers, and muttered an "I'm sorry" under his breath.

Pressing her lips together tightly, Raven forced herself to release her anger as she exhaled slowly. "Let's go home before you pop a blood vessel, Boy Wonder."

His eyes travelled up to her face as he hesitated and, from their close proximity, she was able to see clearly through his tinted glasses the emotions and decisions flickering across his cerulean eyes. She felt his fingers flex against her arms and slid down to her wrists to rest against her pulse. Lips parting momentarily before clasping shut again, he nodded and released her.

* * *

Upon arriving and parking in the garage of the Tower after a silent ride, Robin promptly took on a laconic manner and stalked off to his room. Raven sighed, placing the black helmet on the back of his bike as she swung herself off of it. Her leader always seemed to find something or another to brood about. It couldn't be good for his health.

Deciding to further ponder Robin's obsessive manner after a good shower and mediation, Raven phased into her room and set her basketball things away for the last time.

Subconsciously, as she gathered a towel for her shower, she allowed a stray glance to roll toward the clock. The hands innocently reflected back a time of quarter passed four.

Continuing into the shower blankly as she organized her thoughts and plans for the rest of the day. _Make tea, finish book, medita- Oh shit, Jason. _She froze as she stepped into the stream of hot water. _Am I actually considering meeting with him? That's ludicrous._

The empath shook her head as she promptly continued her shower ritual. _This is ridiculous. I'm free of him and that mission, so why do it? Then again…_

She washed the shampoo out of her hair and lathered her purple locks with her softly fragranced conditioner.

_This mission was completely pointless. I got absolutely no information and wasted my time. Maybe he could tell me something useful…_

Dropping her head and allowing the hot water to pound deliciously over her tense shoulders, the usually stoic sorceress heaved a sigh as she considered the potential benefits of indulging the tall instructor. She had been holding up pretenses all week, how hard would it be for one more meeting to casually acquire potentially helpful information?

Conditioner rinsed out and skin nearly raw from the intensity of the water, the empath called the knobs of the shower to turn and stepped out to wrap her fluffy navy towel around her. She scrutinized the reflection before her as she worked the knots out of her dripping hair and attempted to steel her resolve for the second time that day.

* * *

A half hour later, chakra-less, black haired, and clad in black fitting skinny jeans, a short hemmed navy blue turtleneck sweater, black laced ankle boots, and blue contacts, the resident empath quietly phased into the main room. Casting a quick survey over the room, she located only three of her teammates strewn about doing what each was wont to do on an afternoon free of responsibilities.

She continued silently into the kitchen where Beastboy was preparing an oddly colored tofu snack for himself. He gave her a grin in greeting to which she responded with a nod of acknowledgment as she placed her book on the counter and began the ritual preparation of her tea.

"You're out of your leotard, what's the occasion?" He asked teasingly, eyeing her as she reached up into the cabinet for her box of tea and the smallest mug she owned.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Going to check out a new tea house, didn't want to attract attention."

"Leave it to you to go to the most boring places," the changeling muttered good-naturedly, shaking his head.

Rolling her eyes, the empath snorted as she set the kettle to boil water, "You're right, Chuck E Cheese's is a far more fascinating place to spend my time." He shot her his customary, fang baring grin before scarfing down his slimy snack.

Shaking her head, the empath relaxed her shoulders as she leaned against the counters and slowly sipped her small brew. Deciding that the new tea house (and the tall instructor with whom she was meeting) had a large shoe to fit, in comparison to what with which she had become accustomed.

Sighing, Raven placed her cup in the sink and nodded to the changeling, who was contentedly sitting back and patting his full stomach, as she swept out of the room in a mass of black energy, forming the shape of her signature bird as she transported to an alley nearby the address Jay… or _Jason,_ had instructed her to arrive at.

She found the tea house, a quaint little place with a very traditional oriental appearance, relatively easily and entered, knowing she was about five minutes early. After acquiring a small table for two off to the side near the large windows, the empath decided that the pastel colors and cozy environment were pleasurable enough. She decided she would have to congratulate her comrade upon his arrival on a job actually well done.

Fifteen minutes later, the traditional music and constantly changing aromas of tea leaves were grating her last nerve as the prick had the nerve to be ten minutes late_... ten minutes and counting,_ the irritated empath disgruntledly corrected. Leaning her chin on her palm and tapping both finger against face and foot against floor, Raven blew a black strand of her eyes and shoved her hair crudely behind her ears before slamming her book closed and inhaling deeply.

_Calm. Collect. Compose. Azarath Metrion Zinthos... _she chanted slowly, willing herself to be patient. _This is your own damn fault,_ Anger chimed in with a snarl, _of course he wasn't going to show up. Of course he was fucking with you. How could you expect otherwise? Look at yourself. You creep him out._

The empath closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose roughly, fully prepared to stand up and storm her way back to the Tower when the voice of the male she had been envisioning herself maiming for several minutes alerted her to his presence, "Careful, might break it."

Her dark rimmed eyes snapped open and fell on his easy, albeit sheepish, grin as he stood in front of her table looking down at her, a small steaming mug in each hand. His light grey button up shirt was untucked, hanging just over the maroon belt fastened over his dark jeans, and he had rolled his long sleeves up to the elbows. Long strands of deep jet hair brushed against his unbuttoned collar and called attention to the chain linked around his neck.

Jay set a cup in front of her on the table and his free hand immediately went to rub the back of his neck nervously as he attempted to speak through the shards of glass she was currently glaring at him, "Sorry I'm late Rae, really. I got an unexpected call and I couldn't ignore it." A pale lip curled over her teeth and she looked nearly ready to pounce when he quickly continued, "Here, look, I got you tea. I wasn't sure what kind you'd like so… I just picked a random one," he laughed, still fully sheepish and aware that his end could be wrought at any moment, and it likely would be.

Gaze flickering to the dark steaming liquid placed before her, Raven looked incredulous, "What's it called?"

Jay seemed to uncoil as she almost appeared to be placated and shrugged into the seat across from her. He chuckled before bringing his cup to his own lips, taking a small sip of the swirling liquid as she studied him intently, "Iron Goddess, it reminded me of you so… I picked it."

Her eyes fell back onto the cup and they remained there, hair falling from behind her ears as she leaned to blow on the scalding brew. Carefully grasping the handle, the disguised empath took a slow, cautious sip before placing the mug back onto the table.

Hunter green eyes bore into her from across the table, studying every casual, painstakingly slow action as he searched for some sort of reaction that would indicate his fate. _To be or not to be…_

Raven rolled her eyes, "It's decent. You managed not to screw up the tea, despite being late to the damn meeting **you **scheduled."

The customary easy smile rolled across his lips as he shrugged and leaned back into his seat, "Hey, I'm just glad you actually showed up. Now you can finally get what you've been waiting for."

An eyebrow raised, Raven gestured lazily for him to continue.

"Why, Rae, you've just so badly wanted to get to know me better." He extended his arms to either side of him in a gesture half a shrug and half an emphasis on their location, "Now you finally get your chance."

_**Go forth and Review.**_


	12. 12: Who Are You?

_Enjoy chapter twelve, I had it planned out for a looooooong time!_

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans, all I own is Jay.

**Chapter Twelve: **Who Are You?

Scoffing, the empath redirected her gaze out the window to avoid having to endure his cocky expression, she told herself, not to get caught staring at the effortless way his lips spread and his eyes joined his smile. "Whatever makes you sleep easier at night, block head, but I seem to recall **you** being the one antsy to get me here."

She watched him shrug from the corner of her eye, "Maybe, can you blame me? Not too many girls around like you, Rae."

Resisting another scoff that had come halfway up her throat at the hard irony of his statement, Raven allowed her hair to conceal the slight burning of her cheeks as she reached for and grasped her tea, taking another longer sip as she stared out the window, far too aware of forest eyes boring holes into her face. She made the subconscious decision not to sanction the comment with a response.

The usually smug male just sighed at her indignation, realizing he would be bearing the brunt of forcing her to speak, "You're probably wondering why I had you come down here…" Jason trailed off; searching out the window to find whatever it was that had captivated her attention.

Snorting, Raven awarded his comment by pinning him with her bored falsely blue gaze, "How cunning of you."

Grinning, the dark haired male just shrugged, "Hey, I'm just wondering what prompted _you_ to be here."

Taking a slow sip of her tea, Raven regarded him cautiously as she considered possible responses. Surprising herself, she decided for the truth. "I'm actually quite curious about some things," drawled her gravelly voice lowly.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, having expected a much more biting retort but not at all disappointed in the opening she gave him, "Things such as…"

"Who are you?" The disguised empath asked bluntly, too weary from waiting and the overall toll the past week had taken on her to beat around any metaphorical bush.

The ever expressive male before her cocked his head to the side, confusion dancing in his intoxicatingly verdant eyes, "I told yo—"

Raven held up one small, ivory hand to stop him as she shook her head curtly, "No, I mean who _really _are you? How old are you, early to mid-twenties?" She guessed, but he blinked in confusion instead of replying as she continued, "What twenty year old male volunteers their time to assist a bunch of older women in instructing a ridiculous camp for a bunch of underage girls? Now, I've already considered the possibility of you being a pedophile," Jason snorted at her characteristically frank remark, "But that was ruled out as you didn't seem to seek any of the girls out individually."

"Well, gee, thanks Rae," his long arms crossed over his chest in mild humor.

Ignoring his dry remark, the dark girl continued, "So then I considered the probability in your participation in the shady dealings and goings-on that have been occurring throughout the cities recreational activities." His eyes widened, an action which she carefully considered before continuing, "But you seem a bit too naive to be involved in those sorts of illegal activities, but then again, you do hide behind multiple aliases and names. Does _anyone_ know your real name, anyway?"

The empath noted duly that she seemed to have hit a nerve with her last statement, as Jason straightened in his seat and his eyes narrowed dangerously, all traces of mirth gone, "_You_ know my real name. It's Jason. You already know of the only other three _aliases _I answer to. Don't give me that suspicious bullshit."

Raven's mouth twisted slightly, her brow twitching at his sudden jumpiness. "Very well…" she placated slowly, watching as he physically deflated, slowly leaning back into his lounging position. Hunter green eyes remained burning under her gaze. "You still have yet to refute what I have said, and I am frankly not sure how I should consider that."

Sighing, Jason avoided her gaze and yet again stared out the window, "I guess I haven't. Take it any way you want, but I've told you nothing but the truth thus far," he shifted and pinned her with the most serious stare she'd ever witnessed on him, apart from one or two short instances that proved to be of monumental embarrassment when her leader had showed up at the recreation center, "Can you say the same?"

The Titan sorceress was not sure how the topic of conversation had so suddenly shifted toward her, but she was sure, however, that she did not appreciate being the focus of those intense withering eyes. His question suggested that he knew more of her identity than he had suggested. Albeit, if the muscular male seated across her was worth his weight in salt as a potential crook, the empath could hardly be surprised at his receptive nature and ability to see past her – poorly thought out – disguise. Frowning, Raven cleared her throat in a manner she told herself countless times was not nervous, and narrowed her eyes at the suddenly somber male. "I guess I cannot. Take it the way you wish," she reiterated his earlier words, "But I have misled you in nothing like a surreptitious nature."

His gaze had fallen to some spot on the table between them and it was a moment before he replied in a low, barely audible voice, "I respect your honesty."

Raven, despite being an accomplished empath, was having an extremely difficult time keeping up with his rapid changes of demeanor. The man had gone from sheepish, to arrogant, to exasperated, to angry, and then all the way to dejected in a matter of twenty minutes. He may have been worse than a teenage girl.

Crossing her arms defensively across her chest, Raven huffed, "So, the only conclusion we've arrived to is that you don't indulge your personal information and I lie about mine… Basically, we're where we started." She denied how thankful she was when a grin slowly returned itself to his lips.

"Not necessarily," Jason murmured as he placed his forearms on the table and leaned forward, "I think it's safe to say most pretenses are just about as useless as—"

A phone began ringing from inside of his pocket, capturing his attention immediately as he straightened out to pull it from his pants. "Hang on," he mumbled as he glanced down at the screen, standing from his chair and taking the call outside.

The disguised girl watched him closely from where she sat, sipping her now lukewarm tea as he leaned against a telephone pole across the sidewalk, a twisted expression adorning his features. She attempted to read his lips in a, albeit degrading, attempt to decipher what he was saying but she, albeit embarrassingly, was distracted by the way the pale pink flesh parted and moved as he hurriedly spoke into the receiver.

Jason suddenly snapped the phone shut and fluidly sauntered back into the small tea shop, striding purposely to stand just before her seat. Her bored eyes stared up at him in question. He offered his hand to her while the other slapped a few bills on the table to cover their tea. Cautiously, the empath placed her hand in his larger one and was reminded of the time earlier that day he had done the same thing as he pulled her from her seat. The much taller male led her outside, only to turn sharply toward her when they reached the sidewalk.

"I… have to go," he winced, looking as if that was not what he had intended to say and avoided her gaze, "I want to talk more with you. Tell you more. I could show you… ya know…" Jason looked back down at her to be met with one of her rarer stares- a confused, slightly dazed one. "But I can't, I can't do that. Not now. Fuck, I really have to go."

Raven placed a calming hand on his forearm, brow furrowed, "Settle down there, crazy. Use your words."

Chuckling dryly, he shook his head, causing some of his jet black strands to fall into his eyes, "I'm sorry. I must look so shady to you. I don't mean to, but fuck. I want to see you again, clear all of this up. Would you do that?"

Curiosity had, for the second time that day, gotten the better of her and the disguised youth nodded before she had even processed the meaning of his question.

He grinned shakily, rummaging around in his pocket and pulling out a pen. Before she could question his action, Jason had carefully grabbed her wrist and tugged the sleeve of her sweater up, jotting down an address in black ink sprawling over her flesh. "There, you can go there pretty much any day at noon and I'll be there. If I'm not, I'll be there the next day at noon."

Looking unsure of himself for only a few split seconds, Jason then swooped down and swiftly caught her in an embrace, one of his long arms over her shoulder and the other snaked around her waist. It was so quick, he didn't even have time to be disappointed with a lack of response before he was pulling away and jogging off.

"I've gotta Jet!" The athletic youth called over his shoulder, a playful grin stretched comfortably across his face, like a signature.

Her eyes remained wide for a moment before a twitch curled up the side of her lip as she shook her head at his impossibly corny line. Turning on her heal, the utterly dazed empath decided to walk the way back to the Tower, mulling over all the information, or lack thereof, she had received.

* * *

To say the dark Titan was not expecting the sight with which she was greeted upon fazing into the living room of the Tower was an understatement, a grievous, horrible, downright painful understatement. Beastboy sat in dog form in the corner, nearly cowering, as Cyborg and Starfire seemed to be attempting to calm the curiously pacing former Bat sidekick.

Cyborg seemed to have grabbed their masked leader by the shoulders, and upon her arrival, Robin forcefully pushed his bionic arms away as his head jerked in her direction. He all but ran to her, jumping over the couch fluidly and grabbed her wrist.

Raven could make out a soft, "Oh my…" from Starfire before her attention was entirely robbed by the spikey haired male that had put himself _far_ too far into her personal space.

"Where the hell have you been?" Robin all but shouted into her face, his other gloved hand finding her other wrist as he tugged her forcefully to him. "You go out and don't take your communicator? What were you thinking?"

"Yo, man, let go of her!" Cyborg called worriedly as he hurried around the couch, only to be met by a wall of dark energy. The wielder of said energy made no move that she acknowledged her own action, instead her surprised gaze was focused on the fuming Titan before her.

"Well?" Was all the prompting he needed to do before the shock fell from her face, only to be replaced with a positively chilling glower as her eyes bled white.

"Robin," she growled, "Release me. **Now**."

The masked youth, to his credit, only wavered for a moment, before further pushing into her person space, his nose pressed against her chakra-less forehead. "Not until you tell me what the **fuck** you were thinking."

Swallowing thickly, the empath's last coherent thought before she teleported them both to the roof was the need to at least spare the furniture from her impending wrath.

* * *

A white flash upset the calm serenity that was the breezy roof of the Tower before the two resident birds were thrashed violently by the detonation of her power, sending them both tumbling across the floor in a mass of limbs and grunts. Robin recovered first and breathlessly pushed himself up onto his elbows, staring at the twitching face of the explosive empath before him. Her slip of control had cancelled the spell of her disguise and his gaze was met by the blazing amethyst of the purple-haired girl.

"Raven…" he murmured slowly until she opened her false colored eyes and stared up at him, brow furrowed and teeth clenched. She seemed wary of him, expecting him to continue throwing his temper tantrum. "You left without your communicator…" Robin tried to justify, flinching as she closed her eyes with a groan.

"I forgot I left it in my cape, bird brain, I didn't do it on purpose. I just went out for some damn tea."

Sighing, her leader pushed away a strand of hair that had fallen across her nose as it had caused it to twitch involuntarily. "You don't understand…"

Her eyes snapped open and she glared up at him viciously, "Don't understand? Robin, no level of understanding could justify the reaction you just displayed to our entire team downstairs. Do you want **them **to think I'm weak and vulnerable too?"

Snarling, he reached his green clad hand down and gripped her wrists once again, forcefully pulling them both into a sitting position. "I _don't_ think that, Raven. You don't know what I found out today, what I've been _trying_ to reach you to tell you all fucking afternoon but you left your goddamn communicator home!"

"What," the empath spat, "could possibly be so goddamn important that you have to tear up the damn living room about?"

Robin yanked her forward until their noses nearly collided, his mask twisted impossibly with the intensity of the glare beneath it, "It's about your _friend,_" he snarled, and Raven idly wondered just which friend he could be referring to before her cleared up the little discrepancy, "From the rec center." Ah, that one.

"What about him," she hissed back with equal malice.

"Oh I don't know, just his _identity._" Raven's eyes widened and her leader knew he had gotten her there, knew she had been trying to figure out that exact thing, "Do you know who he is, _Rae._" The empath vaguely wondered when and where her best friend had adapted this oddly sadistic side to him as she dumbly shook her head to the negative.

"His name is Jason- did you know that?" "Yes," she hissed in response, pulling away from him only to be promptly yanked back into the same position. "Really? Did you know his last name?"

Blinking, the empath didn't reply.

"Todd, Raven, he's Jason Todd."

_**Go Forth and Review.**_


	13. 13: The Fallen Apprentice

**Quick note:** _Hey everyone, I know the ending of last chapter threw a lot of you for a loop so I included a little bit of the necessary background in this chapter in case you're not familiar with the Batman comics. I'm not terribly knowledgeable about it myself, but if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in a review or a PM to me personally and I'll do my best!_

_Also, I know I don't usually do this, but a special thank-you to a few reviewers and friends that left me their thoughts on last chapter! You guys simply rock: _**Smiles-X-Giggles**,** Nightlight753**_, _**SaphireDragon15**,** ZDrive** _and, my newly made friend_, **MichikoMichiyo29**! _Thank you guys so much for your reviews and thoughts! _

_Here's a fast update to make up for the horrible cliff-hanger of last chapter (I thought you guys deserved it) and I even added a little more of Robin's perspective._

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans or Jason Todd, all I own is *the original form of the character* Jay.

**Chapter Thirteen:** The Fallen Apprentice

Amethyst widened in shock as Robin's harsh voice echoed hard against the walls of her mind, _'Jason Todd,'_ her analytical mind immediately began the processes as the name brought forth memories, memories that were not her own. The name pounded ominously, forcing her to recall what she had seen in her leader's mind through their bond. She saw a feral, red rimmed grin, a crowbar, a messy, bloody figure lying against the cold floor of a vacated warehouse, a bloody, mirthless grin to match the vicious one as a last means of defiance. Then, an explosion; she saw pain, guilt, tears cried by one of the strongest men in her leader's memories. '_It can't be…'_

Her leader resignedly loosened his hold on her forearms as he watched her reaction almost sympathetically, although the traces of his former wrath still present in his squinted expression, allowing the empath to fall back unceremoniously until her arms moved instinctively behind her to support her weight.

"Jason Todd is dead," whispered Raven, staring at the masked face of her leader through her thick lashes, though he could see she already knew more than her hushed statement implied.

"No, Rae, he came back six months after his death," Robin's patient statement didn't seem to quench her incredulous mystification, "I spoke to Bruce earlier today. He had taken up a new identity before leaving Gotham. He was heavily involved in gang activity, but Bruce said the reason for his leaving is unknown."

Swallowing, the darkest Titan felt anger bubbling back up her throat. Her formerly submissive demeanor rapidly mutating and changing form back to her usual defiant grumpiness now that she had acquired the knowledge she felt had been withheld from her. Raven sat up sharply, leaning toward him once again, eyes narrowing into slits with her rising vehement ire as she sneered, "So, you're telling me, the carefree _teenager—" _

"He's not a teenager -" Robin interjected pointedly, staring at some random spot on the ground of the roof, only to be promptly ignored as she continued on.

"—I met working at a local camp is actually the former apprentice of _the _Batman, killed by the Joker, raised miraculously from the dead, and is now **here**, in Jump City, canoodling around in lowly gangs?"

A nearby box imploded as a result of her unchecked emotions.

The sorceress took a deep breath.

Robin gave her a level look and reached across his sprawled legs, tangled with her jean-clad ones, to grip her shoulders gently in the manner he usually did when telling her something he weighed with importance, "Yes," he replied earnestly, a hint of exasperation present in his voice, "I think he was the criminal I had caught wind of when I sent you on that mission."

"I'm still finding it hard to believe that the former apprentice of Batman got himself involved in gang activity," retorted the empath flatly, a bland look settled on her usually stoic visage.

Her leader shrugged, sighing, "From what Alfred said, Jason seems to have acquired a very… disenchanted view of justice after his…"

"Death," Raven finished bluntly as he trailed off. The masked male sighed again, as he found himself wont to do in the presence of this particular female, his shoulders losing the tension that had coiled in his muscles from his earlier rage. "And resurrection," she added sarcastically for good measure.

Robin nodded, one of his glove clad hands leaving her shoulder to work its way through his spikey thick hair, "So, I did have a reason not to trust him, Rae." The purple haired girl rolled her eyes, waiting for him to hum out an "I told you so" as he jerked his nose in the air with a childish air of accomplishment. He didn't, though, and she gave up waiting in favor of whipping a sarcastic remark back at him. Mostly because she could, but partly in revenge for his catching her off-guard with information she hadn't been smart enough to find out on her own.

"Right," she retorted, her voice dry enough to suck the moisture right from his suddenly dry lips, "You so definitely knew he was your former mentor's fallen side-kick, back from the grave for a basketball-related vengeance on all things girly and –"

He cut her off with a growl that ripped its way from deep within the cavern of his chest, his hand abandoning his dark locks in favor of clasping a fist full of short purple hair just above her nape and pulling her head forward, his forehead pressed roughly against hers. The whites of his mask stared infinitely back at her round searching eyes. Clearing her throat quietly, Raven forced a blank look to fall across the muscles of her face. "You know, Blunder Boy," she drawled, "If my emotions changed as rapidly as yours do, we'd all be blown to bits by now."

The comment went unappreciated by the seething male. Tough crowd. Hey, she tried, right?

Falling from her shoulder to slide down her arm, the unhinged Titan's hand snaked its way to the small of her back. It found its way there and suddenly pushed and lifted the slight form of the empath gracelessly forward as he pulled her to kneel in between his legs in front of him, her pale forehead still pushed flush against his. Masked, narrowed eyes scanned down her shocked expression and fell on her slightly parted pale lips as her hands fluttered against his chest to catch the rest of her fall before she sent them both crashing to the floor… _'again,'_ she reminded herself dryly.

"Raven," he snarled, barely audibly, and the half-demon wasn't entirely sure if he spoke. "I was protecting you from…" he swallowed deeply as her pink tongue darted across her bottom lip.

"From what?" The dark girl breathed in response, her voice especially gravely, "How could you have known there was danger?"

"I just knew." He growled in response, suddenly made wary as small, ivory hands slid like ghosts up his chest and collar clad neck. "You don't become who I've become without instincts like that." The hands didn't cease their journey even as he spoke, even seeming to become bolder – by his flushed reckoning - in their movements up his neck and across the plains of his face. Soft palms rested on the smooth skin of his cheeks, the pale fingertips of the empath just on the bottom edges of his mask. The round, intelligent orbs seemed to be fixated on the spot.

"Who you've become," Raven repeated robotically, voice just above that of a whisper, her gaze unwavering. Their proximity caused her chest to lightly bump against his as she spoke.

His jerky nod seemed more of an attempt to escape the grasp of her fingertips. A failed attempt, really. Her left hand moved immediately to firmly grasp his chin; the only movement the darkest Titan gave that implied the costumed hero was not allowed to move.

Swallowing audibly, Robin cleared his throat before he spoke, "Yeah. You know, you look ridiculous in that sweater." Honestly, the way she stretched in front of him caused the navy material to lift and reveal far too much of the ivory skin of her hips and he found it simply ridiculous on a decorated hero such as her…

_Oh god_ was that her knee bumping clumsily against his thigh? What was it he was thinking before?

As she ignored his comment, Raven's fingertip slipped carefully under the corner of his mask and his train of thought promptly derailed and crashed, falling over a cliff and into a river with rapids and alligators and great white sharks eating cars and bicycles and innocent onlookers.

The empath knew she was over stepping the boundaries they had so meticulously put up, the boundaries _she_ had been so adamant with, but she was so damn **curious**. She had already seen one of the Dark Knight's apprentices unmasked, Raven rationalized her clawing curiosity, what was so wrong with seeing another one? But damn it, damn her hesitations and his squirming against her. Should she let this opportunity pass her by? How long could she spend just staring at him, deliberating?

_Oh god_ how long was she going to stare at him, those falsely cerulean eyes swirling with consideration, her slightly open lipped expression thoughtful. Robin resisted his urge to shift uncomfortably under her gaze, aware that it would cause more unpleasant – _un_pleasant? – friction between them. The smooth pad of her finger had ventured into one of the most intimate places – for him, anyway – and now it just stayed there, unmoving, idly. Sometimes he wished _he_ was the one with the power to access their bond just through some meditation. It took a hell of a lot more for him. Would she actually pull his mask off? The last remaining barrier between them? His mind scoffed at him. The girl before him had been inside his very mind, seeing his darkest secrets, all of his memories, all of his pain… What barriers were left betwe—'_Oh god. She is going to take off the mask.'_ Was he ready for that?

Raven's ivory hand began shifting the left side of his mask up; his eyes fluttered closed instinctively. Her breath caught as the implications of her slight actions boomed warning signals in her head, all of her emotions babbling their own opinions on the matter incessantly. The empath silenced them sternly and was quickly left alone in the silence of her own mind, the silence of the late afternoon on the sun bathed roof, the silence of the halted breath of the teen… man?... before her.

She faltered, her rationale wavering. His senses snapped back, demanding unflinchingly that he finally pay them his attention.

Releasing the death grip he had established at the back of her head, Robin deftly pushed his mask back in place and snapped his gaze wide at her. The empath seemed just as shocked as he did, but his growing discomfort forced him to ignore it as he leaned away from her, both of his hands behind him.

Raven, leaning back as well onto her heels, stared at him, the shame and embarrassment rolling off of him in waves, assaulting her senses and nearly suffocating her.

"Rob—"

"Friends!" Starfire's enthusiastic voice boomed from the other side of the roof as she opened the door.

The Boy Wonder lurched away from her like she had burned him. She felt like she had.

"I hope you have overcome your quarrel…" her innocent voice hesitated as she gracefully stepped onto the roof, wide green eyes shining hopefully, "Because I have prepared a Tameranian soup dish of friendship for dinner!"

Robin rose from his position, clearing his throat and sweeping passed the form of Raven to the charming alien, "Of course, Star. Thank you." She beamed as he strode passed her and down the stairs.

"Friend Raven?" The alien princess asked hesitantly, only to be met with a moment of purposeful silence from the Titan whose back was still facing her from her kneeling position on the ground.

"I… I will be down in a few, Starfire," the gravelly voice of Raven finally replied. Starfire's grin returned with a vengeance and she hovered for a moment before following their leader down the stairs. The sound of the door shutting behind her allowed the empath to dispel the breath she had unknowingly been holding.

She stared at nothing for a few moments before her familiar dark energy crept around her, the tendrils warmly embracing like an old friend, and she phased into her room to change.

_**Go Forth and Review.**_


	14. 14: X Squared

**Quick Note:** Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait, this chapter was decidedly tough to write and I'm not too happy with how it came out. Three reviews away from 100 (as I'm posting this chapter), that's amazing! Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story and continued to support me in writing it. You're all too fantastic for words.

And to clarify, Raven **didn't** see Robin's eyes last chapter, Starfire interrupted them before he opened his eyes to look at her.

I think the title of this chapter is rather clever, ne? –waggles eyebrows- If you spot any errors or awkward sentences or anything **please I beg of you** to let me know. I really should get a beta or someone to read these things over before I post them.

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans or Jason Todd, all I own is *the original form of the character*- Jay.

**Chapter Fourteen:** X Squared

It was when she stepped into the oppressively cold stream of water berating her from her shower head did Raven notice a distinctly painful burning sensation across the sensitive skin of her collarbone. Previously dulled amethyst eyes widened fractionally at the sensation and the offending object was surrounded by her trademark ebony energy and lifted from her chest. Despite the arctic temperature of the water that beat harshly on and around her, the smooth pendant that had become like a fifth limb to her for the past few days glowed in such an angry state of warmth, it was white. Or so she initially reasoned.

Belatedly, after staring down at it blankly for a few moments, she realized her supposedly drained emotional state was a result of all of her emotions being channeled into the obsidian stone, resulting in the volcanic irate rock that glared back up at her. So it would seem the odd little trinket she had all but ignored since its arrival was a bit more than the ornament she had originally anticipated. Raven noted this duly, without real speculation or interest, suddenly remembering the intention she had to leave her ink stained arm out of the spray of the water. Glancing over at it, she realized she had yet to fail, but she found she really didn't care much for her endeavor, anyway.

Why had the encounter with the Boy Wonder suffocated her so? Should she be angry, upset? Something within her logical, observant brain told her the normal emotion that would be brought forth from the experience was a bitter, suffocating sense of rejection and dismissal. She couldn't find the emotions within her anywhere. She only felt frigid indifference. One could barely even call it curiosity.

Her mind had conveniently left whatever emotions had stirred with her newly acquired knowledge of the identity of her "coach" out of the equation entirely. After the initial shock she had experienced, the empath had yet to fully consider the implications of such knowledge and was content with continuing to do so.

Raven wondered if the now blistering burn she received on account of her own rampant emotions was a form of self-punishment for allowing herself to become so deeply invested in anything that it could warrant that kind of response. She found this train of thought utterly useless and promptly stomped it out.

Realizing she had been standing under the stream for quite some time after finishing the actual washing process, the empath flicked the water off and stepped out of the shower. The assault of warm air swayed her for a dizzying moment until she threw her arm out and grasped the towel that had awaited her on her sink. She had just wrapped it around her haphazardly, despite her careful avoidance of the raw burn on her collar, when she stepped out of her small bathroom and into her dismally decorated room.

The lack of reaction she experienced upon first sighting him did nothing to surprise her. He was unable to say the same. When he spoke, it was the first time she had ever heard his mechanical voice laced with even the slightest amount of uncertainty.

"You know, I put a lot of effort to get in here. It's not fair that I don't even get to see that certain sparkle in your eyes that comes whenever you see me."

The shameless statement from the expert thief just didn't have the normal jarring obvious attempt to provoke her that it usually did. Raven cocked an eyebrow, shifting on her feet as she was infinitely aware of her state of dress, or more accurately, lack thereof. She discreetly folded the edge of the towel a bit more securely into itself.

"How did you do it, X? Actually, no, don't answer that. Just get out," the empath deadpanned as she swept past his lounging form against the wall next to her headboard nonchalantly and pulled a uniform out of her closet. She could almost hear his teeth clink back together as if he had been gaping.

No sooner had she folded a cape and leotard over her arm was the man before her, white voids of his mask entirely too close to her face, as they were prone to be. His gloved hand was brought up to brush softly against her skin just next to the raw burn. The pendant he had all but clamped onto her was still floating precariously on her neck, the white hue surrounding it only having slightly faded. His fingers clasped around the chain. His unoccupied hand rose from his utility belt with a small laser. It sizzled for a moment before the chain was cut cleanly, the pendant falling uselessly to the floor. _It was that easy?_

She jerked backwards immediately only to be caught by his hand that had wrapped around her and clamped onto the fabric of the towel covering the small of her back. Fingertips ghosted around the burn once more. "How?"

His demand was crude and succinct in nature, but somehow provoked a curious reaction from the purple haired girl clad indecently before him, "You don't even know the nature of the thing you stuck me with? What kind of thief are you?"

Not deigning her sarcasm with a response, the thief emitted an angry huff that sounded much like a frustrated, if not exasperated, sigh to her. "Did you really just pick it up somewhere because you thought it was _pretty_?" The empath pressed on, some emotion, she couldn't tell if it was Logic or Wrath at this point, whispering faintly that she had been presented with a more than acceptable outlet for her recently acquired frustration. With the discarding of the pendant, all of her drained emotions came rushing back to her in violent waves, crashing into her with staggering force. The man before he seemed to be a most justified outlet, indeed.

After all, how could a responsible Titan such as herself allow a villain to sneak into their home without some form of punishment for his actions?

The hand that was fisting the towel around her tightened impossibly, but that was the only sign that her words had hit their intended mark. "Raven –"

Disregarding the warning tone she recognized so clearly in his speech, she continued vehemently, "So you just go around cuffing some magical stone on people without the slightest clue as to what you're actually doing? How could someone like _you_ be this careless? With no attention to detail –"

He calmly cut her off, "That's enough, Raven. That's enough."

His lack of response somehow irritated her further. She was so intent on getting him to feel as irate as she was. Red X cut her off before she could huff out the colorful response that was forming on her quick tongue. "You're upset about something. Not at me, though, so don't take it out on me."

Raven thought he was finished until he spoke again, quickly adding, "We can talk about it, if you'd like. It may help."

The logical quality of his words stole from her whatever retort she had planned as her pale lips parted and closed with the slightest gaping expression. Blinking, her eyes lowered from their glare up at the white voids where his eyes should have been and settled to stare blankly ahead of her at his chest. Her submissive actions seemed to have garnered her some slack as his hand loosened its vice grip on the only fabric separating her naked form from his black clad one. Palm pressing almost supportively into her back, he gently encouraged her forward, toward him. He was met with little resistance as the clothing in her arms fell to the ground.

She fell unceremoniously against his chest, her cheek pressed against the muscles that quivered beneath his costume as he held her to him so loosely it seemed as if he would allow her to flee at any given moment, or, expected her to. The thief fell backwards to lean against the tall bookshelf, arms lightly brushing against the empath's towel clad sides.

"I knew what it was when I gave it to you," his robotic voice murmured lowly in way of explanation, or reconciliation as it may have seemed, "It was supposed to be this stone that regulated strong emotions," the stiffening of her body against him indicated her had garnered her absorbed attention, "Like a super mood ring, or something. Very big deal, super tight security and all that jazz, actually took me some time to steal. Some sort of huge scientific – or was it supernatural? – discovery."

She suppressed the dry, ironic laughter that bubbled in her throat at his dismissive commentary, as if stealing what was probably one of the most heavily guarded discoveries of the recent day was child's play. Feeling her face shifting against his chest, he stared down at her and was met with an inquisitive, wide amethyst stare clearly asking him _why_.

His shoulders shifted akin to a shrug as he responded rather sheepishly, "Thought it'd help you be more human; help you, you know, _feel_."

"Without blowing up a variety of objects in the vicinity," the empath cracked back dryly. His chest swelled slightly as he seemed to take a sigh of relief. She continued quickly, her momentary emotional breakdown quickly fading away as her more comforting, logical side kicked in, "How do you know so much about me?"

There were so many more questions she wanted to ask. Why had that one come out so suddenly? She was beginning to lose the carefully, tentatively placed grip of self-awareness she had. Truly a terrifying development, indeed.

He chuckled, but the empath clearly felt no difference in the emotions rolling off of him despite the lighthearted nature he was feigning. The gloved hand that had settled against the small of her back slid gently up until his fingertips splayed across the bare skin of her shoulder blades. His other arm wrapped securely around her hips. "Now, now, what fun would it be if I revealed all of my secrets?"

Raven scowled. He sure picked a hell of a time to clam up and slip back into his arrogant shoes once again.

Despite this, his words struck a thought. Here was she, standing before him basically exposed in the most personal form, with little but a whisper of complaint, and there was he, staring down at her with infinitely white voids where eyes mocked her in their absence. For the second time in less than two hours, her fingertips ghosted upwards, across the plains of a muscular chest, across the quivering expanse of a corded neck, finally finding the jawline hidden by the cloth of his mask. Her thumb found where the ends of the mask met the top of his collar. Her eyes didn't leave the space from where his should have stared down at her.

The empath wasn't sure if her hesitation was of her own volition or if she had sensed his body tense.

But Red X made no further actions to escape her advances. The purple haired Titan decided to go on. If she was stopped, she was stopped. The desire of those around her not to allow her to see their most intimate, vulnerable sides was something with which she should have been familiar, after all. That train of thought nearly derailed her ivory hands in their mission, but, to her surprise, they were guided staunchly by one of his much larger parting from her bare shoulder blades, leaving them quite cold.

Her hands being lifted upwards, Raven grasped cautiously onto the ends of his mask. Seemingly confident in her decision to continue, the thief's arm fell uselessly to his side and he heaved a robotic sigh as her quaking fingers wormed into his mask. Her fingers felt dispassionately cold against the scalding flesh of his face.

Raven allowed herself a fraction of a moment to appreciate the smooth skin she encountered under the emptiness that was the mask before she carefully lifted the bottom and revealed his chin and mouth. The fabric having released the restraint on his mouth, the man suddenly began speaking. She almost appreciated the deep sound void of mechanical deterioration.

"I really just wanted to get to Blunder. Teach him a lesson about real justice, you know? One of those things you start on but end up in a completely different place. The second you wandered in, looking so out of place, I knew I had to get back at him. He doesn't ever think, for such a _genius_. You could have been in _danger_ and he barely took any precaution because of his idealism." He took a breath before huffing, "Some hero."

She just watched the lips that had taken her first and only kiss as he rambled, offering no insight into her reaction to any of it. Even if Raven had wanted to, she wasn't sure she would have known how.

It clicked a moment after he had finished his ramblings that he had just unintentionally done the very thing she craved – from anyone. He exposed himself to her – with no goading or prompting or pleading. He was unafraid to expose himself, in any raw way, shape, or form, to her. Such courage was something Raven could only hope, pray, struggle to achieve.

That seemed to be enough. That was more than enough for her.

Her cold fingers traced down the planes of his face and her hands fell uselessly to her sides.

This stranger, this criminal, trusted her more than her own leader, her own self acclaimed best friend. The unexplainable feeling from earlier returned to her. Maybe it was lack of feeling, but she doubted that. Some emotion deep in her mind told her she was suddenly content. The coiled tenseness her body had taken on the second she had gracelessly teleported herself and her leader to the roof dissipated, lurking, slithering somewhere far away.

Surprised rolled off of X, colliding with her empathic senses. His parted lips and the words that began to spill from them were interrupted by the sudden flashing of red lights and the loud alarm that was usual to the residents of Titan's Tower. Her ears rang and the dizziness she had experienced upon exiting the shower threatened to return. To his credit, Red X did not even jump. His focus was otherwise occupied.

"I guess that's my cue to lea-"

The door swished open and Robin was launching through it before scarce room for his limbs was made as it parted, shouting for the empath.

"Raven! Red X has been spott-…" Robin trailed off, almost falling over himself as he skidded to a stop. Raven thought she had never seen his eyes so wide and dully wondered if his mask would rip. He couldn't have that now, could he? She vaguely acknowledged her stoic bitterness toward her leader with a mental shrug.

The empath stared evenly back at him, glancing with her eyes to the tall thief to her right and then back at her leader, "Evidently."

Robin gaped at her for a moment, taking in her state of undress, before he shook his head, rage contorting his features as his legs sent him flying toward the masked criminal.

"What the fuck?" He growled, his deceptively thin legs launching himself at the thief straight away. Raven frowned as X easily dodged the rage blinded attack. "_How did you get in!?"_

X tugged his mask down before ducking out of the way of a rather painful looking kick. It took Robin a moment to dislodge his foot from Raven's wall. She scowled as her leader continued to decimate various items in her room as he chased after the evading thief. "Why didn't you call one of us, Raven?" The masked leader huffed as yet another of his blows missed his mark.

The thief just chuckled, answering for her, "Does it look like she was up to do anything, Chuckles? She's barely got a towel on."

Robin's fist let out a sickening crack as it crashed into the wall behind the spot X's head would have been. Red bled through his vision, anger fueled the adrenaline that allowed him to feel no pain as he yanked his limb free of the now broken concrete.

"I have some great timing, wouldn't you agree, Chuckles?"

Raven's frown deepened as the man that she had just, guiltily, found so much comfort in tormented the Boy Wonder with his verbal jabs, easily dodging all of the crippling blows of said Wonder. "Enough!" Her eyes bled white as both men were suspended in a spout of black energy as Cyborg barged through the door.

"Come on, guys, X is stealing everything as we spe-," he skidded to a stop just as Robin had, his one human eye going wide. "Uh…"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Raven quipped dryly, her eyes returning to their normal color. Cyborg speechlessly shook his head, holding up his arm on which was a screen of Beastboy's shocked green face. A fight between Starfire and Red X was clearly discernible in the background.

Robin struggled in the restrictive energy surrounding him, "How are you in two places at once, X!"

Raven was, for once, shocked into silence.

_Go Forth and Review_


	15. 15: In the Gray

**Quick Note:** Sorry this one took so long guys, the usual excuses apply :c I don't even know where the inspiration to finish up this chappie came from, to be honest. I'm just happy to be posting it and actually kind of happy with the way the ending came out. The rest is meh.

Fake Left, Break Right

By Socially Suicidal

**Disclaimer:** I do _not_ own Teen Titans or Jason Todd, all I own is *the original form of the character*- Jay.

**Chapter Fifteen:** In the Gray

"Let me go, Raven." Robin repeated slowly this time, demanding, for the second time, the empath to release the magic constraining his limbs.

Appearing conflicted, Raven's eyes flicked back to Cyborg, "Rae," the bionic youth pleaded, "Star and BB need us. They're in bad shape with X… or… whatever." He stuttered, shaking his head seemingly in attempt to clear the confusion.

Unable to argue with the well-being of her teammates in question, the purple haired girl reluctantly allowed the energy to fall away from her leader, amethyst eyes avoiding the sure to be piercing masked gaze directed at her. Rubbing his injured hand instinctively, Robin wasted no time before he had decided the course of action for his team to take, "You guys go ahead and help them; I'll stay here with this X and get some answers."

"No," protested the empath immediately, "You two go, I am more able to restrain him," reasoned Raven, motioning offhandedly to the still suspended thief. Said thief gave a mechanical chuckle, mirthless and self-deprecating.

Scowling, Robin shook his head, about to give a heated rebut before being interrupted by Cyborg, "Heck, guys, you two go and **I'll **stay with this idiot."

Neither Titan bird had a logical argument to the tin man's suggestion, both nodding slowly.

Robin cast a frown down at the still scantily clad empath before he turned on his heel and exited the room, "Cover yourself up and hurry," he had mumbled coldly as he regarded her. Lips twitching in a similar frown, Raven quickly summoned her discarded clothing and made quick work of dressing in her bathroom.

After hurrying to the common room and securing a mechanical restraint on the abnormally silent masked thief, Raven focused her energy and the enigmatic swirling black bird that was her signature rose from the floor, sweeping both her and her leader up in its massive wing.

Predictably, when the birds arrived, Starfire and Beastboy had been restrained in their respective manners in accordance with the usual happenings associated with Red X. Beastboy, morphed in elephant form, was seated upon an unhappy Starfire who had an x clamped over her mouth, the two of them stuck together in a mess of a sticky red x. The former bat apprentice growled, kicking over one of the museum's displays before stalking away.

The empath sighed before calling out for him, "Wait, Robin, your hand!"

A distant grunt was the only response he graced her with. Resisting the urge to run a hand raggedly down her face, Raven turned toward her two unfortunate comrades, calculating the method with which she could free them.

When she took a step forward, the green eyes of the alien princess widened as she began violently thrashing. Unable to understand the muffled shouts of her teammate, Raven only paused momentarily before continuing her approach. With another step came a rather painful blow to her stomach as Red X materialized and slammed his foot into her midsection.

The wind taken forcefully from her, the empath managed to skid back only a few feet before regaining her balance and falling into a defensive position, wheezing. "X!" she coughed, summoning shards of energy and sending them spiraling in his direction.

Dodging the attack with a cold laugh, the second X of the day sent a barrage of shuriken at the empath. "Your leader is too hot-headed for his own good." One of the blades nicked the disoriented sorceress's shoulder as she stumbled out of the way with uncharacteristic gracelessness, "And for yours, clearly."

Hissing, Raven clutched at her shoulder as minute amounts of blood seeped from under the fabric of her cloak, "Tell me what you want, X."

"Now, now, are you in any position to be making demands?" X teased, gesturing to her incapacitated teammates mockingly, "You're all by yourself."

Teeth grinding, the empath pulled her hand from her shoulder and summoned dark energy to surround her tightly clenched fists. Her normally dry voice was dripping with venom, coated in ice, and just thoroughly pissed off, "That's more than I need. _Azarath Metrion Zinthos_!"

A large vent in the ceiling was engulfed by dark energy and came crashing down on the thief, who narrowly avoided complete destruction as he leapt out of harm's way. Frustrated, Raven flung her arm out and jerked it toward him, chunks of the nearby wall sent sailing after him seconds after.

He stayed buried under the debris for a short moment before red beams shot from the pile, the lasers cutting through it easily as his lithe frame jumped out from it. The attack she had prepared proved for naught as his form flickered in the air just as the sound of the door being knocked down echoed through the place.

"X!" Robin called, the strain of his voice indicating that he had realized he was too late and X had disappeared.

"You let him get away!" He ran in, rounding on Raven furiously.

She actually looked shocked by the accusation; pale lips parting as she stood speechlessly with one arm around her torso and the other hand gripping her bleeding shoulder.

"Yes, and I did this to myself," she spat venomously, turning on her heel, "I'm damn near traitorous, blunder head. Just call me Trigun."

The Boy Wonder stuttered recognizing his mistake too late, reaching toward her fruitlessly.

"Raven-!"

But she had vanished already.

* * *

When she returned to the Tower to find the resident half robot shut down alone in the common room with an empty set of restraints, the empath was hardly surprised. She expected nothing less of the quick-tongued thief. Sighing, she wondered how she could possibly continue facing him if he continued hurting her friends. There was simply no justifying it. A voice whispered that perhaps the cutting, sarcastic remark she had made to Robin held more truth than she had intended.

Shaking this heavy thought away, Raven paused momentarily to stare down at the blank face of her surrogate older brother. He looked peaceful, for once. She decided to leave him to her other teammates' care before she phased out of the room, leaving it vacant and silent once more.

* * *

Finding the apartment had been easy enough. The address he had written on her arm was clear and she had spent much of her time in this part of Jump when she first arrived from her own planet. Raven hesitated minutely before she descended from the ceiling and landed silently on the dark carpet in the humble abode of one Jason Todd.

The apartment was screaming for want of sentimentality, there were no pictures or personal items strewn about, no essence of the man that lived there. The furniture looked hardly used, a tell-tale sign of how little time the dark haired youth spent there. The few things she could see were meticulously placed – a few books, here and there, an old newspaper or two.

She glanced at her surroundings and decided she wouldn't expect a former apprentice of Batman to live any way else.

Said former apprentice finally made an appearance into the small living room. She had expected him to be at least surprised by her sudden presence, but he seemed to have suspected she would come when she did. He had been waiting for her.

Jason, and she could refer to him as such in good faith as he had discarded the Red X costume and was donning something akin to what she saw him in during those ridiculous basketball clinics, approached her solemnly, arm slowly extending. He looked every bit the tall, athletic youth she had once known as Jet, and then Jay, but, for some reason, seemed more aged. Perhaps it was the effect of her newly acquired knowledge of him.

She regarded him suspiciously and stepped back a fraction. He followed suit as if he didn't notice her recoil.

"Raven," he began, exhaling her name resignedly as his hand came down to grasp her shoulder. Flinching, she jerked away as sharp pain reminded her of the injury she had earlier sustained from the other Red X. He blinked in confusion for a moment before stepping forward and gripping her by the arm.

"Just a little cut," she mumbled a quick explanation, trying to pull away once more to no avail.

Wordlessly, he pushed her cloak over her shoulders, revealing the bloodstained slit in her leotard where the shuriken had grazed her. The scowl that overtook his features reminded her entirely too much of her leader and her eyes sharply found something else to focus on.

"Tell me about the other Red X," her normally drone, bored tone had an edge to it that he didn't fail to notice.

He hesitated before her eyes, sensing his pause, darted back up to give him a pointed glare.

"We have a system," he confessed, tugging gently at the tips of her purple hair and receiving a slap on the hand for doing so, "I tell him where he can find what he wants to steal, how to get in, and what to do with it in exchange for his covering for me when I'm out somewhere else. Like a decoy."

She rebuked, hissing her distrust, "This is impossible. I would have sensed your aura, especially that night on the roof."

Jason sighed, running a hand over his face. "That first night on the roof wasn't me, Rae. It was the real X. He found out about the pendant and told me where it was and how to get it in exchange for a dip into my xenothium supply. He wanted to bring it to you, I was still figuring out your security system at the time, and he promised not to hurt you, so I let him."

The empath blinked. "It wasn't you…" she echoed slowly, before shifting searching amethyst eyes up to lock with his own viridian pair, "When was it you?"

The dark haired male seemed surprised by her question, pausing only for a moment before continuing, "The warehouse at the pier the next night, yeah, that was me."

She leaned back against the wall, deflating as she whispered, "Why couldn't I sense the difference?"

Jason shrugged, giving a short mirthless chuckle, "Beats me, to be honest. I guess because you weren't looking?"

Raven hardly seemed convinced. But she pressed on. "Who is he?"

The male before her gave a non-committal grunt, "Beats me. Some scum bag looking to make a backwards buck, doesn't care who he hurts, has a thing against you guys, apparently," he snorted at the last bit, earning another withering purple glare.

"So you just teamed up with a total stranger?"

Jason sighed, "Not everything is so black and white, Rae," his voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned forward, one arm bracing himself against the wall next to her head and the other coming back up to play with the tips of her hair. Her hand neglected to slap it away, this time. "You're gunna' learn that the hard way, it seems."

His breath licked at her lips and the logical side of her mind analyzed him and her situation. He looked entirely too normal, jet black hair tousled and lithe body clad in a black long sleeved t-shirt and dark jeans. His hunter green eyes honest, but sharp as ever. Observant, searching, _earnest_? Knowledge and Logic pitched in unison then, no, not earnest, the youth before her was a criminal. He stole and lied and hurt her friends. He broke into their impregnable fortress, destroyed the security that was their home.

The emotional side – she dared not venture to thing if it was Lust or something else, both equally bad – argued immediately. The line was blurred, he was right, they were in the gray. The gray was _both_ good and bad, a mixture, not unlike herself. His breath was warm but not as warm as the heat that radiated from his solid form invitingly. His arm kept brushing against the top of her shoulder, reminding her of his looming presence – _as if she needed reminding._

He watched her inner conflict through the hazy, far-away look in her round eyes, "Are you thinking about Robin?" he whispered, voice huskier than she remembered.

She hadn't been, but now she was. _Robin_, oh Azar, the thought of him sent her thoughts tumbling in all sorts of directions. These were hardly the mental conditions appropriate for her current situation, in the home of, by strict definition, her enemy, vulnerable and injured, trapped between the wall and his body underneath his arm while he twirled absently a strand of her hair. Robin was her leader, her teammate, her friend who would be utterly and completely betrayed if he knew of her current predicament.

Robin was also the leader, teammate, and friend that not two hours ago had sourly and completely rejected her, no pretense or apology necessary. She had showed vulnerability, faith, trust in and to him and in return he slammed the metaphorical door in her face, dead bolted it and burned the whole damn house down.

There really was no bouncing right back after that, no quick forgiveness, no immediate empathy. Even for the empath, _especially _for the empath. She would never admit it. Ever.

But he had hurt her. Badly. Robin had managed to do what she had previously thought to be the impossible. He had _hurt _her.

When she had granted him that power over her, Raven didn't know and, as she stared back up into those half-lidded, observant, searching, _earnest_ hunter eyes, she really could not give a single damn.

Not a damn about when or how or _why_ she had given the Boy Wonder power to hurt her. That was something to consider later, in the safe confines of her own bedroom with no distracting, warm breath blowing against her suddenly dry lips. Not a damn about the betrayal her mere presence in this dark, dusty apartment surely was. That was something she was sure she would have to pay for later, but not now, not when there was another being before her willing to do anything in hopes of some sort of forgiveness, penance for sins for which he had no business being sorry for.

Not a damn because he, Jason Todd, former apprentice of Batman, wearer of the infamous Red-X costume, basketball instructor extraordinaire, incredibly convincing actor, was standing before her and he had never, ever dismissed her the way Robin had.

That was all the rationalizing she needed.

"No, I'm not," she whispered back, eyes searching his as not an invitation, not an acceptance or forgiveness of any sort. And he knew that.

And when he kissed her, she didn't push him away.

_**Go Forth and Review.**_


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